Dutch Courage
by Nicrafetix
Summary: Demyx is infatuated. Riku has "new love." Roxas is confused. Axel is ignorant. Sora is a virgin, or IS he? Kairi IS straight. And various other characters are feeling various other emotions too. Unleash the drama and hilarity. Co-written by Lamatikah.
1. Episode One: Now Away We Go

**Author's Note: **Right, so I originally put this on as a oneshot. Buuutt, I liked so much that I decided to turn it into what you are about to see. It contain yaoi, which means boys liking boys, if ye doesnae like ye doesnae read.

This is also thanks to the genius that is lamatikah. Go read her stories. Because they rule. If you like this, you'll probably like her story "French Kissing" as well ;D

Each chapter/episode name comes from a chapter in a book. Competition to guess where they come from! 

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters blah blah blah. But I do own this story. It's miiineeee, yum yum. I also own cookies to give to any reviewers. :D

**Dutch Courage**

Episode One: Now Away We Go

It wasn't a dark, dingy bar room with a few muttering drunks, wiping beer from their stubble with the back of a grubby hand, balancing on rickety bar stools. It wasn't full of dusty corners with off colour paint or wallpaper flaking off the walls. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The walls screamed loud colours, the bar stools were twisted metal contraptions - presumably designed by someone who had too much time on their hands and a lot of metal lying around - the long bar was lit up with vibrant neon lights that matched the dance floor. Personally, it wasn't the kind of scene Demyx would usually go for, but he hadn't been given an option that night.

So, thanks to a very insistent Axel, an easily persuaded Roxas and a Kairi who didn't care where they went as long as she wouldn't see an All-You-Can-Eat buffet, the reluctant Demyx found himself inside Atlantica ("As Hot As Boiling Water" - Demyx guessed that only the really hip 'n' happenin' people could understand that tag line) with his ass plonked onto one of the bizarre metal stools feeling a little sorry for himself.

He stared down at his hands, which were wedged in between his thighs, absentmindedly. He wasn't exactly bored, but he could definitely think of other places he would rather be. The music wasn't exactly to his taste, he could bare the style but he wouldn't choose it over, say, Ars Arcanum or something like that. He raised his eyebrows as a girl wearing rather provocative clothing ran up to the bar and climbed up onto it. She was attracting a lot, mainly male, attention and Demyx felt a little sorry for her.

"Gross, does she have to do that right near us?" Kairi complained, screwing up her face in disgust.

Axel snorted and then smirked. "If you were a lesbian you wouldn't be complaining."

She rolled her eyes at the redhead, picking up her drink from the bar and taking a sip. "Yes, Axel. If I was a lesbian I probably wouldn't be complaining, you're right. But I'm not a lesbian and I am complaining."

"If you were a lesbian you would probably have joined her by now." The redhead decided, somehow managing to keep a straight face. Roxas shot him a hopelessly bewildered look. Demyx snorted and shook his head in amusement; Axel had been making on-going jibes at the subject of Kairi's sexuality since the freshers' party at the beginning of their first year of university but no one except themselves knew why. She sighed irritably and scowled at him.

"_Any_way…" Roxas said slowly, still a little confused. "Yeah, um, so. Anyone want another drink?" he offered, hoping to change the topic of conversation.

"Do you have to ask, babe?" Axel grinned, winking at him.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Urg, don't call me that, it always makes me think of the little kids film about the pig, which isn't exactly what you want, is it?" He poked the redhead's arm and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Every time I call you babe you think of a pig? What the hell?" Axel stared at him in disbelief, clutching his chest; pretending to be hurt.

Kairi rolled her eyes again and looked pleadingly at Demyx who just shrugged. To be honest, he didn't actually care if Axel calling Roxas 'babe' was a total turn off for said blonde or the fact that Axel hadn't realised this until now, even though they had- actually, what had they been doing? Demyx scowled in annoyance, wishing he knew.

Demyx didn't know how two people like Axel and Roxas could even be friends when they had such a weird relationship. It appeared to the world that they were friends with benefits, but no one could ever really tell. Demyx was still jealous of Axel though, he did date a lot of people despite the fact he was a sex-crazed loony that enjoyed burning things in his free time. And Demyx, Demyx was a perfectly normal human being yet he still couldn't hold down a guy. Did that make him a really stupid person? Or was he just really unlucky? It was probably just his lack of confidence or, as Axel liked to say, he was lacking in 'wit and charm,' a comment that kind of hurt, coming from Axel of all people. What he needed was something really cliché to happen like it would if his life was a romantic comedy and everything would be good. But of course, his life _wasn't _a romantic comedy or any type of film for that matter, not even a really crappy low budget one.

And that was when it happened. Demyx's eyes bulged in their sockets in a way that would make even the most successful cartoon character bubble with envy, his jaw dropped and he just stared. It was a cliché beyond the imagination of the director of Nanny McPhee.

"Hey, Dem, what are you staring at?"

Demyx blinked as Kairi wafted a hand across his eye line. "What?" he asked, glancing at her briefly before returning to gaze to the subject of the most amazing cliché he had ever had the fortune to have.

Kairi raised her eyebrows at Roxas who just shrugged. Axel, however, was following Demyx's line of sight with vague interest. When he realised what Demyx was looking at a massive smirk grew on his face. Oh, this was going to be fun. He nudged Roxas and whispered in his ear.

The blonde jumped slightly and blinked in surprise. "You what? Oh… really?" he asked, doubt written all over his face.

Axel nodded, his smirk still boldly standing out. "Definitely."

Kairi frowned at them, "What are you two whispering about now?" Axel opened his mouth to answer her but she seemed to change her mind. "Actually, I'm not too sure if I want to know." Past experiences of asking Axel what he was doing or thinking/talking about had let her to be more cautious when asking him things like that.

Axel clutched his chest in mock hurt. "Do you really think that low of me?" Roxas rolled his eyes muttering something that sounded like 'for Yevon's sake' and slapped Axel lightly on the arm, inducing an attempted guilt-triggering pout from the redhead.

Kairi clicked her tongue impatiently, arching an eyebrow and prodding Axel's shin with her foot. "Tell me!" she insisted, desperate to know what was going on now.

The redhead leant forward, resting his arms on his thighs. He opened his mouth to speak but Roxas interrupted him. "Axel thinks Demyx has found some - and I quote - 'eye candy'," he said imitating the redhead's voice and pulling a face.

Kairi's eyebrows that had been plucked to precision rose in surprise before she shook her head slightly and grinned broadly. "Where?"

Axel spoke before Roxas could interrupt him again. "Check it out." He pointed over to one of the many tables a few metres away, smirking.

Kairi's jaw dropped and her eyes bulged in shock. For a few seconds she was speechless, only managing to choke out a hoarse 'wow'.

"I know!" Axel exclaimed excitedly. "I'll never have to question Dem's taste again." Both the redhead and Kairi laughed, Roxas chose to scowl and fold his arms crossly instead. Axel laughed again and slung an arm around the blonde's shoulders, pulling him closer and pecking him on the cheek. He whispered something in his ear that made Roxas blush and push Axel indignantly. Kairi knew better than to ask.

"So, Demyx!" Axel boomed, making Demyx jolt slightly in surprise. He blinked a couple of times, muttering a timid 'what?' and blinking. "Are you gonna offer to get him a drink?"

Demyx gulped, then frowned in confusion. He knew exactly what Axel was talking about, but he wasn't going to let him know that. "Who?" His three friends snorted into their laps, causing his eyes to narrow in annoyance. "What are you on about?"

"I think you should buy him a drink, or at least offer him some money if you want to carry on staring at him," Axel decided, trying to keep a serious face but failing. Miserably.

Demyx flushed in embarrassment. "I- I didn't realise I was being that… obvious?" he stammered, looking at them hopefully as if they might say reassuringly 'oh, no, Demyx! It wasn't obvious that you were staring at that random guy. Yes, he is very good looking but he is definitely in your league.' He liked the sound of that.

"You really were." Roxas admitted, pulling an I-Hate-To-Tell-You-This face and trying very hard not to laugh.

_'Damn,' _Demyx thought, _'I need better friends. Or ones that can lie better, at least.'_

"Go on, Dem," Kairi insisted, "Go offer to buy him a drink. Or at least go talk to him."

The blonde pondered over this for a while, casting the subject of their conversation subtle glances, before deciding that it wasn't going to happen.

"Why not?" Kairi asked, pulling a face at him.

"Oh, come on! He's totally out of my league!" Demyx declared, sighing dejectedly.

"True, but you know what they say, 'shoot for the moon and you'll land among the stars'," Axel mused, smirking at his ability to remember that saying.

"Nice, Ax. Real nice," Roxas muttered, glaring at him slightly and shooting Demyx an apologetic look. Demyx just shrugged and took a large gulp of his drink.

"Just go for it, Demyx," Kairi told him. "I'm sure it'll go great. I mean; I managed to get my ex-boyfriend that way. Well, sort of."

Axel snorted. "I don't think you could have called that a boyfriend."

"And what do you mean by that?" she snapped, glaring at him. Demyx could tell that Axel had hit a sore nerve there.

"Well, you didn't exactly _do_ anythi-"

"Oh, shut up, Axel." She maintained her fierce tone, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "At least I don't like _guys_!"

An awkward, eerie silence bounced between the group. Axel was smirking more than ever, Roxas was giving Kairi a strange look, Demyx was trying his best not to laugh and Kairi herself looked shocked and rather embarrassed. "That came out wrong." She claimed, wincing slightly.

"Sure." Axel grinned. "It's okay, Kairi, we all knew you were a lezza, anyway."

The auburn-haired girl shot him a dark look that would have made fully-grown mighty monsters quake in their boots and head for the hills, but Axel just laughed. After bristling in annoyance then regaining her composure, she started on Demyx again. "I really think you should, Demyx. Look at it this way, if he likes you then that'll be great and if he doesn't we'll come over and rescue you - saying you're on crack or something - and we'll all have a good laugh about it later."

Demyx didn't like the sound of them all laughing about it later. He had a feeling it would be everyone else laughing at what he had done while he sulked in the corner, feeling sorry for himself.

"Just do it, for Yevon's sake!" Roxas interjected, his eye twitching. Axel cocked an eyebrow at the blonde in surprise; he looked as though he was trying not to laugh.

Demyx looked over to the sofa and sighed. The whole group was looking at him but they quickly turned away when they noticed him looking in their direction. There was no way he stood a chance with that guy. His eyes lingered on the two people with the platinum blonde man - another boy and a slightly butch girl. The boy had dirty blonde hair that seemed to defy gravity, though he might have just stuck his finger in an electric socket, it really wouldn't surprise him. The girl was fairly tall will long dark hair that came to her shoulders and a rather impressive bust.

'_Damn, I bet she's his girlfriend,_' Demyx cursed, realising that he had no evidence that this guy was even gay, except the fact that he had long hair. And not all guys with long hair are gay, so he had _no flipping idea_ where that reason came from.

"Here, drink this." Demyx looked up to see Axel holding out a shot glass full of orange liquid to him. He raised his eyebrows but accepted it and gulped it down anyway. "Right. Now go get him!" The redhead's right arm shot out from his side, pointing over to where the three people were standing. The blonde sighed and looked hopefully at Kairi who just smiled encouragingly, then at Roxas who shrugged and told him that it was his decision. He looked back at Axel who grinned at him like a cat and winked. Demyx laughed slightly and stood up, feeling slightly more confident but not really sure why.

He strode confidently across the room, his head held high. The image of cool, relaxed buoyancy was ruined as he tripped over a person who seemed to have fallen over and rolled off the dance floor. Though, he may well have been kicked by the look of the group of people pointing and laughing at the guy at Demyx's feet. He stared at the giggling mass on the floor incredulously, stepping gingerly over it.

His confidence was knocked and his stride became more of a nervous stagger. He was feeling less gung-ho by the minute. The space between Demyx and his destination seemed to be stretching further and further away as if it was telling him to sod off and give up, but a nudging voice in the back of his mind forced him to carry on.

He approached the blonde man, who was with his 'target', cautiously while the girl was distracting him, showing him something. Demyx took a deep breath and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, I hope you, err, don't mind me asking but… what's your friend's name?" He blinked in surprise as the blonde slapped his shoulder heartily, knocked back a shot of clear liquid and guffawed at him, stumbling over to the dance floor.

Demyx gave a backwards glance over his left shoulder at his friends. As he expected, they were all watching him with undivided attention and when they saw him looking at them and flailed their arms about, encouraging him to carry on. He rolled his eyes and turned around, taking another deep breath, puffing up his chest macho style, before letting it go back to its normal size and making his way over to the platinum blonde and his friend.

He cleared his throat to get their attention and smiled nervously as they turned to look at him. He couldn't help but notice that the girl's expression changed to a triumphant grin when she saw him. He turned to the man, "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted a drink."

The girl raised her eyebrows at her companion as if to say 'I told you so' then winked at Demyx and walked off. The man rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue, shaking his head after her. He looked back at Demyx and smiled. "I don't have any money on me."

Demyx frowned in mystification, why was he saying that he didn't have any money? Had his brain got confused and he had in fact ended up asking him for money instead of offering him a drink? Perhaps the alcohol was affecting him already. He _could_ feel a sharp buzzing in the back of his head. Then it clicked in his mind and a short laugh escaped his lips. "Let me rephrase that, can I buy you a drink?"

"Sure," he smirked, "but I might not drink it."

The blonde felt a little befuddled, but he went with the man to the bar anyway. He wondered if it really was the alcohol affecting his brain. He was renowned for his terrible drunken state. He did the most ridiculous things… but that's a different story. He really should have asked what Axel had put in the shot he had given him. Knowing his luck, it was probably tequila. Damn. "I'm Demyx, by the way," he stuttered nervously, holding out a hand for him to shake.

The platinum blonde smiled (in amusement? He wasn't laughing at him, was he? Oh Yevon, he was so bloody paranoid). "Nice to meet you, Demyx," he said, taking his hand and shaking it. It was a good handshake. It wasn't too firm, yet his hand didn't flop around like a dead fish. Demyx's Dad had told him that you can tell a lot about a man from his handshake, but, to be honest, Demyx didn't know anymore about this guy than he had before they had shaken hands. "I'm Riku." A snort escaped him and he looked away from Demyx.

He wasn't sure if Riku was laughing at him or just because there was a funny story about his name, he hoped it was the latter. He slipped on to one of the strange bar stools, hiding a shy grin as Riku sat facing him. He knew that meant that he didn't intend to get away as quickly as he could, because he wouldn't have sat down if he did. "What would you like?"

Riku shrugged. "I'd better just have a coke."

"Alright." Demyx signaled to the barman for two. "So, um…" He hesitated, realising that he had no idea what to say. He wasn't exactly an expert on chatting up random strangers, especially really good looking ones. He had only dated people he was friends with before. "You're at university, right?" He mentally slapped himself; of course he was in university! Nearly everyone _here_ was in university, excluding a couple dirty old men and a few High School students who must have somehow sneaked in, and he highly doubted that this guy was still in High School. Would he be classed as a paedophile if he was? Yevon, he hadn't thought about that. He didn't want to get dirty looks on the streets and have all the children be hurried away by their mothers when they saw him. He liked children. Oh Yevon, he better not say that in front of the judges in court; they might take it the wrong way.

"Yeah, I'm in my second year, you?"

Excellent, a one-year age gap definitely didn't make it look like he was cradle snatching. "Third year." He didn't know why his throat suddenly had about the same level of humidity as the Sahara desert, but it was making it very difficult to talk. "Where do you go?"

"RGU." He nodded his head towards the door, indicating that it was in that direction.

"Really? Me too. Funny, I don't think I've seen you before." Demyx mused. How could he have not noticed this guy before? He practically had a spotlight on him! He would have to walk around the campus more instead of just holing up in the music practice rooms.

"Well, I transferred. I was at the community college last year." He pulled a face, and then laughed. "So I've only actually been at RGU for a few days."

Ah, that gave Demyx a bit of an excuse. If he had only been attending the RGU for a few days then the news of him being so… well, being there would not have spread to his ears. He was probably doing a completely different course to Demyx anyway. He looked kind of smart. "Oh right." Demyx grinned. "Enjoying it?"

Riku laughed. "You could say that. That janitor is pretty interesting."

"Had a run in with him already, have you? I crashed his trolley on my first day there." The blonde laughed as he relished the memory.

Riku's eyebrows shot up and he laughed in delight. "Really? Wow, I bet he's fond of you."

"Definitely. We're total bosom buddies."

"I'll bet. How'd it happen?" he asked, intrigued.

"Well, my friend Axel - that guy over there," he pointed over to the redhead, who was drunkenly attempting to balance a full glass on his head. "We found it and I got in it and he started running, pushing it down the corridor and one of the front wheels must have jammed or something because it stopped and I went flying straight into poor old Brian."

Riku burst out laughing and Demyx grinned at him. He didn't know why he was suddenly feeling so much more confident, but he was. He figured that it was because they had gotten over the first hurdle and managed to strike up a decent conversation. He took a sip of his drink and surveyed Riku. He was smiling at him, his eyes shining. Maybe Axel had been right, maybe he did stand a chance with this guy.

A sharp movement just to the right of Riku's head caught his eye. He frowned as he saw a grubby looking man sitting a few seats down the bar from them making an obscene hand gesture at him. "You know what's up with him?" he asked, nodding at the man.

Riku turned around to glance at where Demyx was pointing. When he looked back at Demyx his cheeks were tinged with pink. He shifted uncomfortably. "He, ermm, he asked me if I wanted to shag him earlier."

Demyx choked on his drink. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, staring at Riku in disbelief. "Really?" He couldn't quite believe that a man that old would try to hit on someone like Riku.

"Yeah," he pulled a face. "I'm not really into that kind of thing though."

"Not into what? Fucking? Are you celibate or something?" Demyx laughed, raising his glass to his lips again. Then his eyes bulged when he realised what he had said and he put his drink down hurriedly, not wishing to choke again. Riku gave him a funny look that made him want to shout 'this isn't me talking! It's Axel! He put that into my head! He's controlling meee!' but, of course, that would make him look even more stupid than he already did.

"Um, no, it's just the whole doing it in the toilets with a total stranger thing," he said, fiddling with his glass so he would have to look at Demyx.

Demyx mentally sighed in relief. Fortunately, Riku didn't seem offended by what he had said. "Oh right. Yeah, I'm not really into that kind of thing either." He didn't say that just to seem like Riku's kind of person; he really wasn't into picking up random strangers in clubs and shagging them. He had never even tried to chat someone up before, not someone he didn't know, anyway. He hoped that didn't show though.

Riku cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow at Demyx. "What are you trying to do now then?"

"Being a gentleman and buying you a drink, of course." Demyx claimed, taking off his imaginary hat to Riku who just grinned at him.

"Well, I like your way much better," he decided.

Demyx cocked an eyebrow, almost smirking. "Are you trying to say… rather me than him?" he asked, indicating the old man.

Riku choked on his drink as he laughed. "That wouldn't really be much of a compliment, would it?"

Demyx chuckled. "I don't know, I think he would be quite flattered to find out that we were even talking about you 'getting jiggy' with him."

"Yeah," he agreed, with a slightly shy smile. "I should mention just how much I like grizzly grey beards too."

"Definitely. He would be so- Roxas? What's up?" Demyx cut across himself as the annoyed looking blonde appeared by his side, a quite obviously smashed Axel stumbling next to him, a lazy arm around the blonde's shoulders.

"I think Mr. I'm A Party Man," he jerked his head towards the redhead, "has exceeded his limit and he hit his head pretty hard on Kairi's stool. I'd better take him back."

"You think?" Demyx said sarcastically as Axel tried to kiss Roxas, only to be batted away.

"Very funny," Roxas snorted. "I think he'll have learnt his lesson about, ooh, ten seconds after he wakes up tomorrow." They both laughed. Roxas subtly nodded at Riku, an excited glint in his eyes.

"Oh!" Demyx smiled and gestured at his new friend. (Though, he probably couldn't call him a friend yet)."Roxas, this is Riku, Riku, this is Roxas - he goes to RGU too."

"Hey," Riku smiled, nodding politely as Roxas' hands were busy trying to keep Axel on his feet.

"Nice to meet you, Riku."

"And this is Axel, but I don't think he's really up to saying hello," Demyx said. "Alright there, Ax?"

A lazy grin spread across the redhead's face and he blinked - though it was probably meant to be a wink. "Demyx, you - you're sexy. Very, very, sash- sexy."

"You really think so?" Roxas asked, rolling his eyes wearily.

"Yes," Axel replied firmly. "He told me." He pointed an accusing finger about three inches to the left of Riku's face.

Riku blanched in surprise and looked over at Demyx hesitantly. Demyx just shook his head in amusement and laughed. He hoped that Riku did think what Axel had said, even though he knew that he couldn't actually have told him. "Yeah, you should take him back, Roxas."

"Oh yeah," Roxas sighed dramatically. "Come on, Ax." He took away the arm that had been around Axel's waist and made to leave.

"Demyx! DemDem, have fun with your- with this- s-s-smoking' hot bah- bah… bye?" Axel looked momentarily confused until he noticed Roxas glaring at him. The blonde grabbed his hand and started dragging him off. "Mmm, role play time," Axel said, smacking his lips and winking at Demyx and Riku. A vague cry of 'I tell you off because you've done something stupid! Not because it's role play!' could be heard coming from the blonde.

Demyx laughed as he saw Riku's surprised expression. "Sorry about that."

"Uh, it's fine." Riku shot a nervous glance over his shoulder, almost as if he was half expecting Axel to run back at him with a condom and pull it over his head.

"Yeah, he takes a bit of getting used to." Demyx explained, trying not to laugh.

"I figured…" A small, slightly nervous chuckle escaped the platinum blonde's mouth. He looked Demyx straight in the eyes, he opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but then he looked away. He repeated this action, his eye line ending up on his lap where he was digging at the hangnail on his left thumb.

Demyx wanted to know why he had done that. Something had obviously crossed his mind and he had decided against saying anything. If only Demyx could read minds; if he could tell what Riku was thinking there would be no problem. Mind you, if he could tell what everyone was thinking he would be able to become The Ultimate Ruler of the Universe and everyone would have to give him as much pecan and toffee ice cream as he wanted. But he knew that wouldn't happen. "Do you think it's true that you can find out everything about a person by asking just twenty questions?" He blurted out. He blinked in surprise as he registered what he had said.

Riku looked up at him, a doubtful look written upon his face. He seemed to consider this for a while, until he said, "I suppose you could always try it."

Demyx's eyebrows shot up in surprise; he had half expected to be called a weirdo and the subject to be changed or for Riku to have run away, claiming that Demyx was a psycho, or possibly for Demyx to have excused himself and started hitting his head against the bar. "Really?"

Riku shrugged. "Sure."

Demyx thought for a moment. He wasn't really sure what to ask. I mean, he didn't know anything about this guy, except that he was absolutely gorgeous, had a really nice laugh and thought Axel was a little weird. Though, the aim of this was to get to know more about him and Riku didn't seem to find it weird. He didn't want to ask silly questions like 'what's your favourite colour?' or something like that because it wouldn't really tell him much about this guy. "Uhh…" He struggled to find what he wanted to say. "You go first."

The platinum blonde smiled and raised an eyebrow. "All right then." He paused for a moment, his head titled slightly to one side, contemplating what his question would be. "What do you think of rainbows?" Demyx noticed his words were rather slurred.

Demyx matched his expression. "I like them; it means it's sunny and raining."

Riku smirked in amusement and nodded. "Okay. What was your first word?" he asked, leaning forward and resting his arms on his thighs. Demyx subconsciously noted the positive body language and grinned.

"Well," He laughed slightly, "it was 'goine'."

Riku blinked at him. "'Goine'? Is that even a… word?" he asked hesitantly, as though he was unsure if he might offend Demyx by saying that.

Demyx shrugged. "Apparently it was what I called bananas."

"Wow." Riku laughed shortly and looked at Demyx with a mixture of amusement and interest. There was a strange glint in his eyes that Demyx couldn't quite read, but it made him want to smile and laugh and shout and sing and… generally make an idiot out of himself. "Did you have any other interesting names for things?"

"I thought a telephone was called a 'hello'," he admitted, pulling a face as though he had just realised how weird he had been as a very small child. In fact, he might have been all the way through his childhood. He probably was still now, but he tried not to think about that.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Well, when you pick it up you say 'hello', don't you?"

Riku nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I guess you do. Wow, that's logical. Were you some kind of prodigy?" he inquired, smirking slightly.

Demyx laughed. "Oh, definitely." He rubbed the back of his head and grinned at the platinum blonde. "Any more questions?"

"Hmm…" He tapped his chin, smiling. "True or false: all's fair in love and war."

Demyx cocked an eyebrow; he hadn't really expected a question as deep as that. "True," he answered.

Riku tilted his head to the side, a gentle smile ghosting over his features. He nodded. "Great answer,"he said, leaning forward slightly.

Demyx smiled. "It was a good question." He also leaned forward. He was mere centimetres away from Riku's face. Their noses were almost touching. All he had to do was move forward a tiny bit more and tilt his head slightly to the right and their lips would meet. Just a little bit further and they would be-

"Riku!"

Both men jerked out of the stupor that had been in caused by the closeness of the other. Demyx's eyes landed on the tall dark-haired girl who he recognised as the one Riku had been with earlier. She looked horrified, covering her mouth with her hand. She smacked her forehead with her palm. "Oh Yevon, I am so sorry," she mumbled, biting her lip awkwardly. She was obviously screaming curses at herself in her mind.

Demyx and Riku just stared at her for a few seconds. Then they both spoke at the same time, insisting that it was fine and she hadn't been interrupting anything, nothing at all. Their eyes found each other and they struggled not to laugh.

"Err, right, okay. Riku, we need to go." She said it apologetically. "If we stay any longer Tidus really will get up onto one of the tables so everyone can see his dancing."

"Oh! Right, okay." Riku jumped up off his stool. "I'll come in a minute," he told her, almost as if he was asking her permission.

She nodded, smiling. "We'll meet you by the door," she informed him. Her eyes darted to Demyx, widening excitedly, before she turned on her heel and walked away.

Riku looked back at Demyx and smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, I'd better go…" he said, not looking as if he wanted to leave at all. He looked down at his hands, then back up to Demyx hopefully, waiting for him to say something.

In all honesty, Demyx had no idea what to say. He was a little gobsmacked. He had been _so close_ to kissing this guy and then they had been interrupted. That was just his bloody luck. If it had been someone he hadn't wanted to get off with then they wouldn't have been interrupted and he would have had to put up with it, but when it was someone he really, really wanted to kiss: it didn't happen. Maybe he had bad karma?

"Demyx?"

The blonde snapped out of his thought trail and smiled at Riku. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Well, umm… I'll see you around, I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, mentally telling himself off for not saying something cool and managing to get his number without looking desperate.

Riku opened his mouth to say something, and then bit his lip looking disappointed. "Err, right. Okay. Yeah, I'll see you around." He turned to leave; his shoulders slumped slightly.

Demyx smacked himself over the head. "Wait!" He grabbed the dejected boy's arm, stopping him in his tracks. "I, err…" His body had taken over his brain here. It had reacted instinctively to prevent Riku from leaving and his mind hadn't quite caught up. Consequently, he found himself at a loss of what to say and it wasn't for the first time that night. "Can I have your number?" he asked hopefully. "Please?"

Riku's face lit up and he grinned. "I was hoping you'd ask that," he admitted. He grabbed one of the leaflets from the bar that were advertising some new Alco-pop called 'Blue Rock' that sounded like it was a mixture of seawater, sand and a whole load of alcohol (well, the tag line was A Taste of the Hawaiian Beach). He found a pen from the pile of rather dusty biros next to the empty suggestion box. Demyx wondered why on earth a club even _had_ a suggestion box. "Here." He handed the newly adapted leaflet with his number scrawled across it to the blonde, grinning. "I've still got seventeen questions left and, y'know, I would like to get a chance to ask them."

Demyx nodded. "I'd like to answer then. I'll call you, and that's a promise," he stated. He meant it too. He did wish that they hadn't been interrupted earlier but they would get another chance. He was certain of that.

"You better do," he said, pushing the blonde slightly and grinning. He laughed and winked, waving as he went away.

Demyx waved back at him, perfectly buoyant. He watched until Riku had gone from his sight with his friends, he kept turning back and grinning at Demyx all the way. He took a gulp of his drink and smiled triumphantly to himself.

He read the number, not doubting that it wouldn't be a fake one, he knew it was real. He knew that he was going to call it. He knew that he would end up having a debate with his friends about when he should call. He knew that he would ask Riku on a date. He knew that it would take him several nervous hours to decide what he should wear. He knew he would worry that he had bad breath. He knew that he would have a debate with himself later on about whether he was actually good enough for Riku. But none of that mattered right now. All that mattered was that he had his number and he was going to call it and he was going to go on a date with that amazing guy who had caught his eye.

A funny thought occurred to him as he sat finishing his drink, the bar he was leaning on vibrating with the thud of the heavy beat of the music. He supposed he really had to thank Axel because, if it wasn't for that little burst of confidence that he had given him in that small shot glass, he doubted that he would ever have been able to do this.

**What IS the nature of Axel and Roxas's relationship?**

**Is Kairi REALLY a lesbian?**

**Will Demyx and Riku get together and STAY together?**

**Find out in the next instalment of: DUTCH COURAGE!  
**

**Author's note: **This is kind of like a soap, mainly because this is being made up on the spot, though we do have a general idea where it is going. I hope you like it, I know it's a little different from the other stuff on my account but give it a chance, yeah? thank youuu :)

Read, review, party, and enjoy life.

Nirii and lamie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (le luff)


	2. Episode Two: Pool of Tears

**Author's Note: **We return! With a chapter filled to the brim of awesomeness.

Mucho love and thanks to Tellyounolies and DarkHenrych for their lovely reviews. You guys are awesome. Thanks also to everyone who put this story on their favourites and alerts. It means a lot. :)

Each chapter/episode name comes from a chapter in a book. Competition to guess where they come from! 

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters blah blah blah. But I do own this story. It's miiineeee, yum yum. I also own cookies to give to any reviewers.

* * *

Episode Two: Pool of Tears

There was a knock at the door. Sora groaned and picked himself up from the floor where he had been enthralled in a game of _Trinity Limit_, the latest game out on PlayStation 2 (so it was about four years old). He sloped over to the door and upon opening it there appeared a brightly coloured girl called something like Kylie… Kyrie… Killee…

"Hey, it's me, Kairi." She grinned inanely, clutching a bright pink sleeping bag in one arm and a bright purple overnight bag in the other. "I was wondering if I could come over since Axel and Roxas are… well, busy, Selphie's at some weird Fresher party which I do not want to go to and Demyx is on his special date so I was all alone and I thought since you're basically the only other person I know on this part of campus I thought I could come over…?"

Sora blinked twice.

"Brilliant! Thanks, Sora," she sang his name as she danced past him into his room. She ungraciously threw her things down onto Sora's controller, probably not on purpose, but it still stung when she did so. "Oh, were you playing _Trinity Limit_?"

Sora suddenly leapt eagerly over to the space next to Kairi. "Yeah! Do you know it?"

"Yeah, my brother plays it all the time. He's a nerd."

"Oh…"

"So," she said, brushing the controller and game packaging all away from her new-found area, "I brought _Treasure Magnet_ and _Combo Plus_, the two most amazing chick-flicks in the whole wide world."

Sora squealed. "I love those films!"

Kairi grinned.

* * *

Atlantica was buzzing; the floor vibrating due to the beat of the deafening music, the dance floor was overflowing with bodies bumping and grinding, the talented bartenders impressively juggled cocktail shakers and three college students eagerly awaited the arrival of the fourth, who would come baring tequila, vodka, Malibu and some strangely addictive apple tasting shots.

"Pence, why do you always get those weird apple shots?" Hayner asked, raising an eyebrow at the dark haired man. "They're all sugar."

"They taste good. To me, taste is more important that the alcohol percentage," he mused.

"Either that, or you're a pansy," The blonde tapped two of his fingers to his forehead.

A tall girl with long black hair and an impressive bust laughed. "He's got a point. I think you do it to make it easier for you to win drinking games."

"Haha! Yeah, Tifa!"

Pence rolled his eyes; he had such good friends. "Speaking of drinking games," he said, nodding at the approaching figure carrying a tray heavily laden with shot glasses.

"Tidus! Good timing!" Hayner yelled in delight.

"Never Have I Ever?" Tifa asked as Tidus placed the tray onto the table and sat down on one of the twisted metal stool that were around the table.

"Hell yeah," Tidus grinned. "Me first?" When the rest of the group had given their consent, his expression became thoughtful. "Never have I ever… had sex in a swimming pool."

"Oh, _good one_, Tidus," Hayner said sarcastically. "The idea is that you say something that you think the others will have done."

Then, to Pence and Hayner's surprise, Tifa picked up a shot glass of vodka and drank it. Blinking a little, she placed the now empty glass back onto the table. Tidus laughed raucously and high-fived her, the other two boys stared at her in shock.

"Man, lesbians get all the luck," Hayner groaned, holding his head in his hands.

"Nope, girls just find me more attractive than you," Tifa decided, winking at him and smiling smugly. "Anyway, my turn. Never have I ever over eaten in an All-You-Can-Eat buffet."

Pence scowled at her. "Ouch, that hurts," he said, grabbing one of his apple shots and draining it.

Tidus grinned widely. "You know, I think you should really have to have two of those whenever you have to drink, Pence, 'cause they're so weak and all." They all laughed as Pence rolled his eyes, but obediently drank another shot.

"Right, right, it's _my_ turn now," Hayner jumped in quickly before Pence could claim it to be his. He smirked. "Never have I ever dated a redhead."

"A _redhead_, Pence. That means auburn, not just ginger. So Kairi counts," Tidus pointed out unnecessarily.

Pence stared at him. "Man, you guys suck."

* * *

Roxas shifted under Axel's arm until he was comfortable, then he leant against it happily. They were watching some dreary film of the action/adventure genre and, truth be told, Roxas was nearly falling asleep. Just as his eyes fluttered shut for the fifty-seventh time, Axel started shaking him and saying, "Roxas, babe. Rox, wake up."

"Huh?"

"You alright, babe? You were asleep for ages."

"No, I wasn't… Don't lie…" Roxas yawned and rubbed his sleepy red eyes. Thinking about it, he wouldn't be surprised if he had been asleep; he was feeling a lot less tired than before suddenly. He leaned up and kissed Axel's chin. Axel kissed Roxas's eye and Roxas retaliated by kissing his cheek. Axel grabbed Roxas's face and started kissing everywhere but the mouth. Roxas batted him off, laughing at their game.

"So, I hear you've got a hot date tomorrow night," Axel smirked.

Roxas stared, trying to figure out what Axel was talking about. His tired state was clogging his mind. "Oh… Oh," Roxas rolled his eyes. "You're hilarious, Axel. I do actually believe that is you."

"Bingo! I'm sorry, someone must have confused the details because it is not you who is going on a smokin' date with one of the hottest girls on campus, that Olette girl - but is, in fact, me!" Axel grinned, staring at the now blank screen. Roxas remained mute, sitting as still as possible against Axel's suddenly cold-seeming arm. It curled round Roxas's head and his hand patted his face.

"Mhm, very funny, Axel," mumbled Roxas. "So where will you be going on this super hot date?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. The cinema, watching some horror film - works a treat, then to Coffee Hut and then, well… you know the rest." Roxas cringed away from Axel's touch now. Axel glanced at the shrinking boy. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just shocked at how romantic you always are. Really, Axel, I'm touched."

"That's a point. So, you know, if things get any further with Olette, us two, we'll probably, you know, pause for a while again." Axel didn't remove his arm though.

Roxas glared at Axel. "I love the way you say 'pause', like you know it's just going to be a fling with her."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Touchy, much?" Axel grinned in delight of having one over his friend. Roxas scowled. "Hey, it doesn't mean I don't want to bone you. It's just she might get a bit tetchy if I do. All right?"

"I hate you sometimes, Axel Ryuk. You're such a jerk." He snuggled closer to Axel, closing his eyes. Axel kissed the top of his head.

"And you're such a girl. Do you feel like watching another film?"

Roxas yawned. "Yeah, I guess."

Axel grabbed him by the arms and swung him in front of him. "No!" he said, sternly. "No, you are too tired. Do you know what you need? You need to go to bed!"

"No, Axel!" Roxas laughed.

"Yes, Roxas!" Axel smirked. "This is my last night of freedom before I might have to, Yevon forbid, commit to some sort of real relationship!"

Roxas pouted, "Fine, you son of a bitch."

* * *

"Never have I ever worn a headband-"

"Tifa, yes you have!" Pence shouted desperately. He knew they were ganging up on him, trying to make him lose.

She held up her hand. "Bitch, please. I hadn't finished. Never have I ever worn a headband for a whole twenty-four hours."

Hayner and Tidus burst out laughing as Pence reached for another shot.

* * *

Demyx wrung his hands for the fifth time in three minutes. Riku laughed for the seventh time in one minute. "What?" said Demyx, wondering whether the battered bunch of carnations would make an appropriate replacement for the bouquet of roses Selphie had instructed him to buy for Riku. If Demyx was honest he thought it was a little cheesy and not something he'd really have chosen, let alone something he'd have actually thought of doing.

"You okay, Demyx?" asked Riku, yet again.

"Oh, yes, absolutely fine, how about you, though? That's the main thing, right?" he said, grinning charmingly.

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Not so sure about that, Dem."

Demyx squealed internally at the nickname. Externally, he asked, "What do you mean?" Selphie had informed him at least forty-six times that the main point of the date was to make Riku happy. Make him happy, damnit!

"I mean, monsieur, that this date is about _us_, yes, _US_, having fun! Lots of fun! Okay?" Demyx stared for a moment or two, trying to take this new piece of information in; it clashed greatly with most of what Selphie had been telling him all day. "Seriously, you've been acting… well, I can't really say weird since I barely know you, but you don't seem like the guy I met at the bar the other day."

"Oh? Oh, really?" Demyx frowned. How could that be? He had followed Selphie's instructions to the letter; he had taken Riku to the movies where they had watched a horror film to induce optimum cuddling sessions (although it had ended up with Demyx almost cowering in his seat, trying not to cry and Riku leaning forward, enjoying the film far too much), then he had taken Riku to the café on the corner to have a light dinner of a sandwich and some coffee (even though Demyx hated coffee) and then here they were now, standing outside the dorms, under the milky light of a streetlamp.

"You need to relax, you know." He smiled a slow, almost sad smile. "Well, it was nice meeting _this_ Demyx - but I think… I think I prefer that Demyx I met at the bar. The really sweet, funny… less rehearsed Demyx." He held out his hand. "So, I will see you later, maybe?"

Demyx stood in shock. Was this it? Had he ruined his only chance with Riku Sohma? Oh Yevon. He just stared at Riku's beautiful beautiful face and wondered if he'd ever be able to look at it with hope of a kiss or a relationship or all the things he wanted so badly from Riku ever again.

"No!" he said. "No, no, no. This is all wrong. I did exactly what Selphie told me to do and now you're meant to fall madly and desperately in love with me. So this is wrong! Because I am that… that really sweet a-and funny and… and just that same Demyx you met. But I was trying to be better; I was trying to show you how amazing I could be and Selphie said that if I followed the plan exactly then that's exactly what would happen. So why hasn't it? I mean I knew there were some faults with her 'amazing' plan, but, you know what, if it had been up to me we wouldn't have watched that scary film because I was actually shit scared. We wouldn't have watched a film at all. We would've gone for a walk in the park because then I could've actually talked to you. And then we wouldn't have gotten coffee because I actually hate coffee and I don't care if it's 'continental' or whatever. It's not nice. And-and you know what else, I really like you and I'm not ready to give you up yet-"

Riku kissed him. Full on the lips. Demyx's brain stopped working for a minute and when it started up again his heart seemed to have failed him. Riku pulled away. "Good. That's more like it." Then he grabbed Demyx's hand and said, "Well, aren't you going to show me to your room then?"

* * *

"Never have I ever… been tied down to one girl for more than three months."

"Tidus, you're ridiculous." Tifa rolled her eyes. She, Hayner and Pence all took a shot.

"Hahahahahaa! I wasn't the only one who had to drink that time!" Pence giggled. "In yo face, Tidus!"

Hayner raised his eyebrows and snickered. "Hang in there, Pence. It's not even eleven yet."

* * *

Sora sighed contentedly.

He hadn't watched a chick flick in ages – and it felt _good_. Leaning across Kairi's lap he grabbed the last handful of kernels from the bottom of the popcorn bag and stuffed them in his mouth, despite the fact that he knew if he ate anymore he would probably up-chuck all over Kairi's brightly coloured sleeping bag. Kairi had a tear in her eye and was staring mournfully at the credits as they rolled by, naming celebrities of varying status as they scrolled.

"I love that film..." she murmured, watching the last of the logos flicker by as the soppy music came to a slow halt. Sora mumbled in agreement. "Sooo," she stretched her arms and yawned. "What shall we do now?"

Sora shrugged. "Jus' talk?" he offered, picking the kernel bits from his teeth.

"Good idea." Kairi grinned and shifted round to face Sora. She leaned forwards, resting her head on her hands and her arms on her legs. "So how's life, Sora?"

"Life's... good," he mused. "A bit _weird_ but when is it ever not?"

"True, true, I suppose." She sighed, pulling at strands of coppery hair and thinking about ways in which she could murder Axel and get away with it.

"How's Roxas, by the way?" asked Sora, who despite asking a seemingly innocent question about his brother, was really trying to whirl his way into one certain topic surrounding his older brother. A rather less innocent one.

"You mean how's Axel?"

"What is _up_ with those two?" Sora blew out, frustrated. "I always used to be able to talk to Roxas about anything! But about Axel? It's like I'm not... like I'm not _allowed_ to know. He barely talks to me anymore. It's so... Roxas. It's exactly the sort of thing he'd do when he's annoyed about something."

"Well, I have no idea. And frankly, I'm not even sure I want to know. Axel is kind of really irritating me at the moment with this whole lesbian thing. It's like _get over it_. I mean, it happened in Freshman year and he hasn't told anyone yet – and we're Seniors. I get the feeling he'll never tell anyone. I just wish he'd stop pretending to bring it up."

"Lesbian thing?"

"Oh Yevon, you never heard?" Kairi pouted for a minute, thinking of a way to explain it all without making her seem like some sort of hideous loser. Then she realised that there was no way she could fully describe the way in which Axel was bullying her without Sora losing all respect for her, so she simply said, "Yeah, Axel calls me a lesbian because of an... incident and now everyone laughs at me. Which is _so_ hypocritical since at least a third of the girls who go to this college are actual lesbians."

"Really? That's so strange! Because everyone says I'm gay!"

"Whoa! That is wei... are you?"

"No!" Sora shook his head profusely. "No, no, no. Apparently it was just because there was some... incident when I was in the Freshman year too – at some party I went to. It wasn't a college one, it was at some friend's house and according to some people I did... things. But the thing is, I can't remember – so it can't be true, can it?"

Kairi, so happy to find someone in the same position as her, wafted aside the tiny doubt that maybe even though Sora couldn't remember it it could still be true, and simply grinned at the guy.

* * *

"Never have I ever taken two hundred photos in the space of one hour." Hayner said, grinning broadly at Pence, who was slumped over the table.

"P-pass us the shlot," Pence asked, looking more than a little dazed.

Tidus pushed a glass of the dark haired boy's preferred apple liquor and also a sneaky shot of tequila; the poor guy was so far gone it was highly unlikely he would taste the difference.

"Thankss, Teedee," he slurred. Then he practically threw the two shots down his throat, in quick succession. "Come on, boys, let's _dance_."

* * *

"So, Axel," mused Roxas, "how was your last night of freedom?" His nose nuzzled Axel's neck.

Axel smiled thoughtfully and stroked Roxas's arm. "Well, it could have been worse, I suppose."

"You ungrateful little slag." Roxas grinned. He propped himself up so he was facing Axel. "So how did you meet Olette?" he asked, grabbing the hand that was stroking his arm.

"I met her in the Student Union bar a couple days ago. You know me, when I see a pretty face I can't help myself," he said, winking at the blonde. "Surely you know that?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "I think you'll find that _I_ initiated our first conversation."

"That may be, but I believe I initiated our first _real_ 'conversation'."

The blonde laughed disdainfully. "It's all about sex with you, isn't it?"

"And that's why you love me." Axel retorted cockily.

"Yeah, _right_." Roxas agreed sarcastically, patting the redhead's cheek patronisingly. "Anyway, I'm shattered. So enough of that," he said, removing Axel's roaming hand from his right thigh. "I'm going to sleep. And that _means_ sleep."

"But, Roxas!" Axel pouted. "What if this is my last night with you? Tomorrow may bring a new relationship that could, you know, be a turning point in my life. Don't you want to make this night one to remember?"

"Shut up, Ax." Roxas muttered. He turned over, a small smile creeping onto his face.

* * *

"You know, I actually feel kind of sorry for him," Tifa admitted, smirking at the unconscious form that was Pence.

"You've gotta admit, it was hilarious when he got up into the bar and started dancing." Hayner grinned. He picked up the dark haired boy and slung him over of shoulder. "Yevon, he's heavy."

"Did you see the look on that chick's face when he tried to chat her up, but just ended spilling his drink all over her feet?"

"I think the highlight for me was when he ran up to the guy in the suit and jumped on his back."

"Yeah," Tidus agreed, "until we found out her was the club manager and we got kicked out."

"But, man, it was so _worth it,_" Hayner claimed, punching a fist into the air and almost dropping Pence.

"Besides, we're not barred; we've just got to keep Pence on a tighter leash next time."

**Has Kairi found her soulmate?  
What does Roxas REALLY think of Axel going on a date with Olette?  
Will Demyx ever take Selphie's advice again?  
Will Pence ever regain consciousness?  
****Find out in the next installment of: DUTCH COURAGE!

* * *

**

So, can you guess where this chapter's title came from? It's a lot easier than the last one, which no one got. Chuh.

Anyhoo, five reviews for an update? Yes? KTHXBYE.

Read, review, party and enjoy life,

Nirii and Lamie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mucho luff)


	3. Episode Three: Motives

**Author's Note: **Mucho love and thanks to Amissa, Rocketship Potter¸ iluvtoady, Miggery, and DarkHenrych for their lovely reviews. You guys are awesome. Thanks also to everyone who put this story on their favourites and alerts. It means a lot. :)

Each chapter/episode name comes from a chapter in a book. Competition to guess where they come from! **Please do this, it's super fun!**

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts ain't mine. Sorry 'bout that.

* * *

**Dutch Courage**

Episode Three: Motives

To the outside viewer, Roxas was carefully examining the nails on his left hand. Only he knew that he was in fact plotting the ways one could cut off another person's hair any get away with it.

He was crammed on a sofa with Axel and Olette to his right. Demyx and Riku were sat in the same chair on his left. A mindless, in Roxas' opinion, chick-flick murmured on the television; it had been Olette's choice.

He started fidgeting in his seat, trying to get more comfortable, but ended up feeling less comfortable - with Axel's thigh shifting against his own. He stopped suddenly and looked up at Axel who appeared to have latched on to Olette's face. She looked very pleased with herself. He looked over to Demyx and Riku, the latter sitting upon the former's lap, watching the film intently until Axel pulled away from Olette. The sound of that similar to a plug being pulled from a drain woke Demyx from his movie-induced trance.

He looked at Roxas and pulled a questioning face. Roxas shrugged and turned away from Axel, in doing so, managed to nearly sit on his lap. Roxas blushed as Axel turned to smirk down at him, then quickly remembered his charge on the other side of him who was _innocently_ twirling her hair and pouting. Axel dove back in and started kissing her again.

Demyx gestured angrily in Roxas' direction. Roxas rolled his eyes; his roommate had been desperately trying to figure out what was going on between Axel and him, especially since Olette entered the fray. But Roxas had refused to comment, instead spending more and more time on his own, in the park, at the cafe, taking the bus to anywhere for hours and not coming back to the dorms until late, late, late at night.

Roxas suddenly noticed that Axel's hand had somehow made its way to his thigh. He gulped, noisily - but he doubted anyone could hear him what with their all being indisposed. Riku had turned round to find Demyx's mouth and Olette was still grinning stupidly into Axel's own mouth. He tried to flick off the offending hand but the grip just tightened. He blushed deeply, wondering when he had become such a teenage girl.

"Well," he announced loudly, standing up suddenly so Axel's hand simply fell off his leg. "I'm going for a walk. Have fun."

He grabbed his coat and ran out the dorm, not turning round to check if anyone had noticed his abrupt departure. He doubted it. They were all somewhat… occupied.

"Hey!" So apparently certain people could talk to him now. "Hey, Roxas, wait up!"

Roxas waited, growling irritably in his less-than-warm coat. Axel finally caught up with him and turned him round to face him, smiling in a jovial way - but it seemed less so to Roxas who was cold, tired and fed up.

"What?" he asked fiercely, wondering what could be so important as to drag Axel away from his new babe.

"Why did you leave so soon?"Axel asked, his grin dropping slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I upset her royal highness?" Axel's grin disappeared completely.

"What's that meant to mean?" he said, letting go of Roxas' shoulders. Roxas merely turned right round and carried on walking away.

"Hey! Don't walk away from me, Roxas," Axel was shouting at him, but Roxas just didn't care anymore.

* * *

"So! What's the game this week?" Hayner asked, practically dropping the heavily laden tray of drinks onto the table and hopping onto a stool. He looked around expectantly.

Pence was holding his head in his hands. "I don't think I could handle another one after last week. Did you notice the look the bouncer gave me before I was allowed through? I don't want to be barred from here."

"Man, you're boring, Pence," Hayner decided, shaking his head in disappointment. "Whatever, where's Tifa?"

Tidus scowled. "Probably having sex in a swimming pool, the lucky bitch."

The three boys were all silent for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts.

Hayner threw his hands up into the air. "What the hell am I doing here?"

* * *

Roxas jogged the way up the rest of the stairs and knocked on the door. What greeted him was a wild-eyed Kairi, hair scruffed up and her trousers zip not quite done up.

"I'm fucking pregnant," she shrieked at the mute Roxas.

He blinked for a few seconds and then said, "But… what?"

"Yes!" she cried, shoving a pregnancy test in his face. He grimaced and pushed her hand away, sliding into her room. "Pregnant! The test is flipping positive!"

"Wow… Kairi… Who's the father?" asked Roxas, setting himself down on her bed, taking his coat off.

"It's you, Roxas." Roxas froze, midway through taking his jacket off (it was so cold that he'd decided to wear two).

"But…" he paused. "No, that's impossible, Kairi."

"No! What's impossible is the fact that I've had no sex in three years and suddenly, _apparently_, I am pregnant!" She flung her arms in the air, flailing them wildly and Roxas eyed the peed-on stick warily, hoping it wouldn't just slip out of her grip and smack him in the face or something equally as disgusting. "So, I started thinking… how could I get pregnant if I hadn't had sex - and then I realised. I once shared the same bath as you-"

"But we were wearing swimming costumes - and I didn't even do anythi-"

"Silence! Yes, so it must be you because you are the closest I've been to having sex in a long time."

"Kairi, sperm can't even go that far in bath water - it's literally impossible. How do you not know this? You're doing Biology as your major!"

"Then explain this ungodly little red cross, Roxas Yagami!"

Roxas inspected the little red cross. "Well… it's not entirely red. It's kind of purple and- Kairi, you're not pregnant. It's just a bum pregnancy test."

There came a shriek of horror from the bathroom. "Kairi!" cried her roommate. "Kairi, this one says I'm pregnant too!"

Kairi rushed to the bathroom, saying something about putting it on the pregnant pile.

As they came back into the room, Kairi was telling her younger roommate that just because there were seven positive pregnancy tests and only five negative ones it didn't mean that she actually _was_ pregnant. Selphie was just sobbing into her hands. She looked up when she came into the room and saw Roxas fidgeting on the edge of Kairi's bed.

"Oh," she sniveled, "hello, Roxas. I'm a bit of a mess right now." Roxas fought his very masculine urge to run away, squealing like a little girl as a weeping one entered the room. "I think… I think…" Selphie seemed moments away from tears again. "I think I'm pregnant."

Roxas sighed and, lowering his gaze slightly, awkwardly lifted himself to his feet and lightly placed an arm round her heaving shoulders. Kairi smiled at him and left to go to the small kitchenette. "Hey," he said, softly. "They're bum pregnancy tests. I mean they said Kairi was pregnant and she's practically been a nun for the past three years. You're not pregnant, okay?"

This seemed to perk Selphie up slightly as she wiped her eyes and looked up at Roxas almost cheerfully. "Thanks, Roxas. You're so nice for a boy."

Roxas rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah," he said. "I think Kairi's making some hot chocolate. Let's go get some."

The freshman grinned at him and walked into the kitchenette area, a new skip in her step. Roxas sighed, smiling slightly. Selphie was sweet, if a little misguided. He wondered who she'd managed to pull and almost have a child with.

A child… Roxas blew out softly. He followed Selphie to where Kairi was boiling the kettle. That really put things into perspective.

* * *

Hayner felt the intense questioning eyes of his fellow peers boring into his own. He sighed and put his bottle of beer down on the table. "Look, I don't even _know_. All I know is that they're not together but they go through stages of having really noisy sex."

Pence coughed into his Appletini. Hayner clapping him on the back, clearly wondering when the poor guy would get a grip.

Tidus frowned in confusion. "I don't get it, Roxas never went out with any guys in High School. So, I mean, there's gotta be something going on there, right?"

Hayner shrugged. "All I know is that I can't even walk into my own room without knocking."

* * *

The credits of the film rolled up the screen and Demyx stretched his arms above his head, yawning. His back cracked satisfyingly

"So… do you think the others are going to come back any time soon?" Riku asked, biting his bottom lip a little and looking up at Demyx.

The blonde shrugged. "I doubt it. Why?"

The other boy grinned, the edge of a smirk fluttering around his mouth. "Good." He leant over and pressed his lips against the blonde's. Demyx sighed contently, he could get used to this.

After a while, Riku pulled away and rested his head in the crook of the blonde's neck. Demyx smiled and leant back against the backrest of the chair. Riku's breath was tickling him pleasantly.

"Demyx?" Riku spoke quietly.

"Hm?"

"Why did you come over and talk to me in that bar the other week?"

"Because…" Demyx paused; he thought the answer would come to him immediately, but it didn't. He didn't want to just say, "I thought you looked hot," or "Axel told me to." It was more than that. Cheesy as it sounded, Demyx may have been struck by the idea of _Love At First Sight_. "Because I thought you looked hot and Axel told me to."

Best not to scare him away with romantic mush.

"Well, you know what I think?" Riku asked, smirking, one eyebrow raised. "I think it was love at first sight."

Demyx threw his arms round Riku, crying, "You _are_ The One!"

It was later that evening, shortly after Demyx attempted to hop into a pyjama leg but failed miserably, causing him to crash into the side of the bed, that he asked Riku, "So, before me, did you have any other boyfriends? Or girlfriends?"

Riku hesitated, his whole body tensing up for a few seconds, before he relaxed again and simply said, "No, not really. There was this one guy… but that didn't really work out. What about you?"

The silence before Riku replied made Demyx pause a moment before answering, "Yeah, I went out with Axel once. That was a mistake. Erm, there was also this girl called Yuffie when I was in high school - another mistake. Oh, and I was once used by a college girl when I was in senior year, that was a mistake of epic proportions."

"So… lots of mistakes?"

"You've already made up for them all," Demyx grinned.

Riku whacked him with the pillow. "Yevon, you're so full of shit!" But he grinned too. "So you went out with Axel?" Suddenly an almost worried look came upon him.

"Yeah, but only because I'd just found out I was gay and Axel was there and Axel was bi and he was all, "Why don't you get with me?" and I was all, "Yeah, sure." It was pretty casual and nothing really happened."

"Huh," Riku sniffed. "Well, night, Demyx."

"Niiight, Riku."

* * *

"_Dude_, did Tifa just come out of the toilets _with_ that redhead?" Hayner's eyes were bulging in the direction of the ladies loos, where - indeed - the dark-haired girl was swanning into the main clubroom just behind a striking redhead, a satisfied smirk playing around her lips.

Tidus snorted as he watched her slip a wink at the redhead. "Well, it's not a swimming pool, but…"

"Don't you have any morals?" Pence asked pompously when she reached their table.

Tifa simply grinned and picked up a glass from the tray. "Don't you have any balls?"

Pence rolled his eyes, staring into his Appletini with a disapproving look. "Just saying… You should be more careful; you'll get Chlamydia."

"What else is a Gynecologist for?"

"Right," Hayner interjected, officially putting his foot down and closing that conversation. "Moving on, Axel told me that Demyx and Riku are dating. Is it true or is Axel just being… Axel."

"You didn't _know_?" Pence looked incredulous. "God, that started _weeks _ago."

"And to think that it was his first time at Atlantica. And I brought him here." Tifa mused.

"_We_ brought him here," corrected Tidus.

"I knew as soon as a saw them talking that something was going to happen." She slammed her glass down impressively on the table. "I bet they're gonna get married one day."

The three males exchanged a single look, then burst out in raucous laughter.

* * *

Demyx grinned as he slid into the booth next to Riku, pushing a large cup of coffee (two espresso shots with cinnamon) towards him. After waking up late, they had decided to go out for a leisurely brunch. He couldn't help but feel a little shocked when he heard the word "brunch" coming out of Riku's mouth. It was always an activity he had associated with middle-aged ladies. However, he was finding it most enjoyable and not the slightest bit uncomfortable so far. Certainly, all thoughts of middle-aged ladies were firmly out of his mind.

"So, last night was fun, huh?"

"Yeah, it was," Riku agreed, though his eyebrows flickered together a fraction.

"But?" Demyx prided himself in spotting the small details in people's expressions.

"Well, I just feel a little sorry for Roxas, that's all. I mean, I thought he and Axel were together and then Axel was there making out with Olette and then Roxas stormed out."

"You'll learn to just live with it."

"Don't you feel sorry for him though?"

"No! That little bastard won't tell me a thing about him and Axel!"

Riku laughed. "Damn, so you don't know anything about what's going on between those two? I was hoping you could shed some light on that whole situation."

"I wish I could. They just seem to go through these phases of kinda being together but not actually _together_ together, but not _not _together and then suddenly they'll be dating other people," he rambled. Unsure of how much sense he was making, he added, "It's messed up."

"You think?" he replied sarcastically, leaning back against the snug cushions placed randomly around the booth and closing his eyes. "It's so much better when things are just simple. When two people can just like each other and let it be known, without making a huge deal of it and just settle into a relationship. No fuss. Just them."

"You mean like, you and me?"

Riku opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at the blonde, though he was smiling. "You. Are so cheesy," he stated. "But yeah, like you and me."

Demyx smiled and held his hand out for Riku to grasp, but just before Riku's hand touched his own Demyx heard the two words he would live to remember for the rest of his life:

"Hello, Richard."

**Is Kairi REALLY pregnant?**

**Will Roxas get over his teenage crush?**

**And who the HELL is Richard?**

**

* * *

**So, can you guess where this chapter's title came from?

More reviews lead to quicker updates, doods.

Read, review, party and enjoy life,

Nirii and Lamie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mucho luff)


	4. Episode Four: Mr Darcy, Mr Darcy Pt 1

**Author's Note: **Mucho love and thanks to Amissa, Rocketship Potter¸ and Tellyounolies for their lovely reviews. You guys are awesome. Thanks also to everyone who put this story on their favourites and alerts. It means a lot. :)

Each chapter/episode name comes from a chapter in a book. Competition to guess where they come from! **Please do this, it's super fun!**

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts ain't mine. Sorry 'bout that.

I would just like to point out some I have realised. Unrealistic amounts of alcohol are consumed in this story. I really wouldn't advise you to drink as much as they do. And if you do, don't drive, okay? Yes? Good.

**Dutch Courage**

_Previously..._

_Demyx smiled and held his hand out for Riku to grasp, but just before Riku's hand touched his own Demyx heard the two words he would live to remember for the rest of his life:_

_"Hello, Richard."_

Episode Four: Mr Darcy, Mr Darcy (Part 1)

Riku choked on his coffee and turned around so fast his coffee spilt on Demyx a little. He didn't notice.

"S-Seifer?"

Demyx turned to look at the intruder with mild interest. The man standing behind him was, perhaps, a little taller than himself and of a medium build. His shaggy blonde hair was poking out underneath his black slouch beanie.

He turned to look enquiringly at Riku who was still staring at the intruder in bewilderment.

"What are you _doing_ here?" Riku asked him.

The blonde man shrugged. "Why shouldn't I be? It's just a different part of town."

Riku grinned. "It's so good to see you!" He edged out of the booth and hugged him.

Demyx looked from one to the other awkwardly before giving a small cough to remind them of his presence.

The two men parted from each other, the blonde now staring at Demyx inquiringly, though Demyx was sure he noticed a flicker of annoyance in his eyes. Of course, that could be his paranoia coming out to say 'hello' again.

"Oh, yeah. Demyx, this is Seifer. Seifer, this is Demyx. Seifer and I went to High School together and he goes to Hollow Bastion Community College." He turned back to Seifer. "Demyx goes here at RGU, we met a few weeks ago."

Seifer held his hand out to Demyx, who shook it in response. "We used to date," he informed Demyx, nodding at Riku, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Demyx quickly let go of his hand before he was tempted to crush it into dust (which wouldn't actually happen, but just in case). "Uh, cool," Demyx replied, just to lighten the situation.

"Wow, Seifer, you really know how to make a situation awkward." Riku laughed.

"Well, y'know, I try." He smirked. "It's good to see you," he said, smiling and taking one of Riku's hands.

"Yeah... It is." Riku extracted his hand, casting an awkward glance at Demyx.

Seifer looked between the one in confusion for a second, then something appeared to click into place in his mind and he laughed, turning to Demyx. "Man, I'm sorry. I didn't realise."

"It's fine," Demyx insisted, a little stiffly. "Riku, I think I'm gonna take off. You two probably want to catch up and stuff."

"Hey, don't leave on my account," Seifer, smirking.

Demyx wasn't convinced by his sincerity; there was something about this guy he didn't like. Though, that was probably just his prejudices coming out - this guy was Riku's ex-boyfriend after all.

"It's fine, I've- I've got a paper in for tomorrow."

"You sure?" Riku asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Demyx edged out of the booth and took Riku's hands.

"Okay, well, I'll see you later, yeah?"

"You certainly will." He smiled and gave Riku a chaste kiss on the lips. He picked up his coat and nodded at Seifer before walking out of the café.

Once outside, he sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He knew it was stupid, but he couldn't help but feel a little threatened by the random appearance of Riku's ex-boyfriend. His mind kept replaying a moment from the previous night, when they had talked about previous partners. Riku had said that there had only really been one guy - that must have been Seifer. Unless, he had meant that there had only been one guy he considered to be _serious_. But still, that could still mean Seifer.

"Oh, get a grip," he muttered to himself. He was an _ex_-boyfriend. Obviously something had gone wrong between them and they'd split up. Honestly, he was being ridiculous. He had nothing to worry about.

Besides, Riku had been making it very clear he was into Demyx recently.

* * *

As usual, Altantica was alive with energy. The dance floor was filled with people packed together like sardines in a tin, people damaged their throats shouting at each other so they could be heard and the beat of the music pulsed through peoples' bodies.

"It's your last night of no responsibility, Tidus!" Pence exclaimed, wildly, waving his arms in the air to emphasise the importance of his statement.

The blonde stared at him, dumbfounded. "You _are_ joking? I always get blamed for everything!"

"Pence, what are you _on_ about?" Tifa was frowning at him.

"It's tradition! Twenty-one is when you officially become an adult."

"Yeah, maybe in the nineteenth century," the dark-haired girl smirked, shaking her head at Pence. "Seriously, Pence, what time are you from?"

"Yeah, Pence, you're so _old_." Hayner snorted loudly into his glass.

"So much for not drinking tonight," Tidus laughed, clapping Hayner on the back and causing him to choke. "I thought you were going to save it for tomorrow?"

"Pssh, my stamina is _awesome_."

Tifa's smirk widened. "That's not what I've heard."

Three members of the group laughed, the other looking slightly confused for a moment before joining in, then stopping again. "Hey!" he protested. "You're lying, and if someone did say that it must have been ages ago!"

"Yeah, 'cause it's been ages since you pulled anyone, Hayner," Tidus said, wiping underneath his eyes. Tidus, Pence and Tifa began laughing again.

Hayner scowled. "Hey, I could so pull anyone if I wanted. Maybe I just haven't wanted to. You didn't think of that, huh?" He closed his eyes, nodded and crossed his arms across his chest.

"You could pull anyone? That's a pretty confident claim to make, Hayner."

The blonde's eyes shot open again. "I- I said that? I mean, sure. I could. If I wanted to."

"Alright then," Tifa set her drink down on the table. "See that brunette by the bar? The one in the big group, with the red dress. She's your target."

Hayner looked over and grinned. "No problem."

"Hey, that's Yuna!" Tidus protested.

"That's the point," Tifa assured him.

They watched him swagger away and casually lean on the bar next to the girl. "Hey, why don't you show me your Gryffindor so I can, y'know, Slytherin?"

The blonde returned, rubbing his red left cheek. "Alright, maybe not _anyone_."

"Alright, let's make it fairer," Tifa grinned. "Whoever doesn't pull tonight, has to pay for the drinks next week."

Tidus smacked his hand on the table. "Deal!"

"Just don't go for a freshman this time, Tidus." Pence advised.

"Dude, she was hot."

* * *

Roxas stared at the screen, trying to focus his heavy eyelids onto the character who was speaking. Selphie had picked the film, assuring Roxas that it was full of action, adventure and all that kind of stuff boys liked – and though Roxas wasn't actually a massive fan of action, adventure and all that kind of stuff boys liked, this had abated him from whining about having to watch a chick-flick. Unfortunately, Roxas was getting the sneaking suspicious that Selphie had been lying. Blatantly. So far the only "action" they had seen was when the main character (a girl – who'd ever heard of a boy's film with a female main character?) managed to pull a guy at the bar, and even then, much to Roxas' chagrin, he hadn't been able to see anything worth seeing. The only adventure was the fact that it was a darling "coming of age" story. So, really, when Roxas thought about it, "and all that kind of stuff boys liked" was a moot point.

Kairi rested her head on Roxas' shoulder and yawned. "Roxas," she said softly. "This is a shit film."

"Maybe even worse than yesterday's."

They both looked at Selphie, who was almost fast asleep, leaning against Roxas' other side, and sighed the sigh of proud but also rather bemusedly worried parents.

"Well, that's Selphie for you."

"Yeah," Roxas stroked her arm softly, wondering if he could tease her awake.

"I'm a little bit worried about her actually," Kairi announced, furrowing her eyebrows. "She seems really... offbeat. Like she's not quite there all the time."

"I know what you mean actually," Roxas leant back against the sofa. "I thought it was kind of weird how she kept gagging when we were cooking breakfast this morning."

"Oh no," countered Kairi. "We had bacon; that's normal. It's just a girl thing."

"Will I ever understand?"

"No."

"Brilliant."

Roxas laughed and turned to watch the film again.

"So I'm going to meet up with Sora again tomorrow," Kairi said after a while.

Roxas "mm"d in reply. He wasn't particularly interested in Kairi's escapades, especially when they involved his brother. And he'd been hearing a lot about them in the past few weeks, as he spent more and more time hanging around with Kairi and Selphie, who, although talked about boys (sometimes fun for an insight) and fashion (not interesting) and periods (he usually left the room), were a lot more fun to hang around with than it was back in Couple's Corner.

"Yeah, we're going to meet up to get ready for Tidus' party."

"I heard Tidus was having a party now," Roxas wondered aloud.

"Oh yeah, that's just Pence," chuckled Kairi. "It's his little 'you're last night of freedom!' party. He's obsessed with the notion that twenty-one is the age of responsibility."

"Yevon," Roxas laughed. "How did you put up with going out with him for so long?"

Kairi pouted. "He's sweet really, Roxas. Honestly. He's just got his little... ideas."

Roxas sniggered under his breath, letting his eyes closed, mumbling, "Haha, 'ideas', meaning penis."

Kairi frowned at Roxas, as though to say 'what the hell?'

"I'm so tired," he concluded and let the sound of the film drift him into a peaceful(ish) sleep.

* * *

"Demyx?" There was a timid knock on the door.

The blonde hurriedly pulled his headphones out of his ears, scrabbling around for his folder full of notes and a pen, which he had carefully laid out of his desk before deciding to get himself into the mood for work by listening to a few songs, then promptly falling asleep.

"Yeah? Come in!" he called to the person behind the door. He placed his left hand in his hair and poised his pen on a piece of paper with his right; appearing as though he was pondering what to write next.

The door opened and Riku stepped through it, closing it quietly behind him. "Hey."

"Riku, hey!" Demyx stood up and walked over to him, enveloping him in a hug. "You alright?" glanced at the clock in confusion, remembering that he had agreed to meet Riku that evening. The clock read half ten. "Shit, I lost track of time, didn't I? I am _so_ sorry. I kinda just feel asleep and, well, yeah."

"I'm fine, and it's fine, forget about it. I just want to... to talk to you."

"Okay," he said. "What's up?" He couldn't help but feel suspicious that something was up. Riku was obviously a little flustered and his paranoia was creeping back in.

"You see," Riku started, "hey, sit down." He nodded towards the bed. "I- I haven't exactly been straight with you. You know when we were talking last night? And I said there was this one guy? Well, that was Seifer, you know, who we met in the caf this morning."

"Yeah..." Demyx frowned, unable to see where this was going.

"The thing is, we - Seifer and I - we split up last year and we didn't see each other after, at all. Then I transferred here. And seeing him today, well..."

Demyx's heart skipped a beat. "W-what are you trying to say?"

Riku groaned and ran his hand through his hair. "It's just, we dated for a long time and he was my first boyfriend and everything. After talking to him, I can't help but think I need some time to work things out. To realise what I actually... What I..." He trailed off.

The blonde stared at him. He hesitated and before he could say anything Riku spoke again.

"The thing is... Seifer was my first boyfriend. In High School. He made me realise that I liked guys."

Demyx didn't want to think about that, but he kept his face neutral.

"He helped me come to terms with it and we started dating pretty soon after that, almost immediately. So I've never- I never really had time to... Time to just be." He glanced up at Demyx and smiled awkwardly. "What- what I'm _trying_ to say is that I think maybe I need some time to sort things out in my head. You see, he wants to give it another go." Riku stood up, rubbing his arm. "I can't do this..." he muttered under his breath.

Demyx stood up and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Riku, spit it out." He had already figured out what he was trying to say, but he thought he should let Riku get whatever he was feeling off his chest.

"I'm so sorry, but I think maybe I rushed into things with you. I should have waited longer after Seifer. But - it was just - you were so nice and funny and I couldn't help but feel drawn to you and before I knew what was happening we were dating, but I didn't mind. I _liked_ it."

"But you feel that maybe you should give it another go with Seifer."

It was a statement, not a question. Demyx recognised the feeling.

"Well, yeah." He shrugged his shoulders and looked up at Demyx helplessly. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. Don't even worry about it." Demyx insisted, pulling him into a hug.

"It's just, I really do like you, Dem," he mumbled into his shoulder.

"I know." Demyx smiled, rubbing his hand slowly up and down Riku's back. "It's cool."

* * *

Tidus stood up and cracked his back, after being bent over transferring numerous bottles and cans into the, now full, fridge for the last twenty minutes. "Yep, that should be enough," he decided, looking around the large kitchen and admiring the gleaming liquor bottles in various places on the counter tops.

"Geez, Tidus. Why the hell do you live in the dorms when you have this place?" Tifa asked, looking around her and flicking the blinds on the large window above the sink.

He snorted. "What, and miss out on all the fun? I don't think so."

"Fair point." She grinned, and hoisted herself up onto one of the granite worktops. "So, you pulled Yuna last night, huh?"

He grinned lopsidedly, leaning back against the countertop opposite the dark haired girl. "Yeah, I did. She's cool, I think we might stay."

Hayner scowled. "It doesn't count though, you've been working on her for ages. You were practically going out before you 'pulled' her."

"Someone's a little sour today," Tifa chuckled, smirking at the blonde.

"Ahh, well. At least he knows for future reference that Harry Potter chat up lines do _not_ work," Tidus concluded.

Hayner rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. "Who did Pence pull, anyway?" he asked, rapidly changing the subject.

"No idea, where is he, anyway?"

Tidus shrugged. "Haven't seen him all day."

"Somebody must have had a good night then!" Tifa grinned.

The three of them burst into raucous laughter, Hayner sounding slightly hysterical. His ego was obviously slightly damaged by the fact that Pence had pulled and he had not.

"Who did you pull, Tifa?"

She smirked a little, as though she knew what she was about to say would shock them. "Naminé."

She was right. Tidus' jaw dropped and Hayner choked on the water he had just sipped.

"Naminé's a _lesbian_?"

Tifa laughed. "Nah, she was just _incredibly_ drunk."

* * *

"Roxas! Roxas! Open the door!" Roxas could almost feel the fists pounding against the door. "Roxas, for crying out loud! Let me in!"

"What?" screamed Roxas, yanking the door open to see Sora standing there, one arm raised in order to either punch the door again, or perhaps even Roxas, and a scowl all over his generally friendly features.

"Roxas," said Sora, "you have been ignoring me."

"No," mumbled Roxas. "Just... been busy, you know."

"As if. You've got nothing to study for at the moment. And your social life is hardly thriving."

Roxas shrugged, non-committal. No way was his little brother going to get anything out of him. Kairi had probably told him everything she knew already which meant Sora would know about Axel going out with Olette and Roxas' increasing visits to her dorm.

"Roxas." Roxas looked at Sora with no emotion apparent on his face – or at least so he liked to hope. "What is going on between you and Axel?"

Each word stung Roxas deeply. No one had asked him this question directly, although he knew that many people had been discussing this very topic behind his back. "Nothing, now leave me alone."

"Roxas!" Sora grabbed Roxas before he could turn around, a new, hurt tone in his voice. "Roxas, what... what happened to you? I'm your brother. You tell me everything. What has Axel done to you?"

Roxas kept his stony gaze upon Sora, still refusing to give anything away. The look on Sora's face might have once made Roxas break down and tell him everything, but about Axel? No. He could never tell Sora about Axel.

"Goodbye, Sora," said Roxas, quickly exiting, leaving Sora standing alone in the doorway to his dorm room.

Roxas had no idea where he was headed; he just knew he didn't want to be anywhere near people. He walked towards the nearby park and ended up, moodily, strolling down its pathways – generally abandoned by students who felt their precious time would be best spent studying or being at lectures, or, more likely, boozing and boning – rather than being in the park.

He brooded over what was wrong with him. It was Axel; he knew that but why? He wasn't sure, or he was sure but he didn't want to admit it. There were many things he would like to tell Axel but he still wasn't quite sure what they were yet. Every time Axel touched Roxas he felt a shiver of belonging, every time Axel looked at Roxas he felt so sure of himself and every time Axel was with someone else he needed some recognition – he needed Axel to touch him, to look at him, to just... be... with Roxas.

Maybe that was why Axel had been holding onto Roxas before, when he was with Olette that time. Maybe it wasn't because he was being a twat – maybe it was because he knew Roxas needed Axel's attention, if even in a twisted way.

Axel understood Roxas in most ways, Roxas thought. Or at least Roxas understood Axel – almost completely. Roxas wasn't sure whether that meant he was better off than Axel in that way, or whether he was worse off. He suddenly needed to talk to Axel, or not talk – but to sit with Axel. Like they used to. Just sit next to each other and be content in each other's company. He crouched down and squeezed his eyes shut, trying fruitlessly to forget about those times, trying not to remember how good it felt. His hands fisted into balls and he beaded them into his eyes in an attempt to press the feeling away.

Standing up – but barely – he staggered over to the nearest bench and sat on it, sitting in the foetal position, hugging his knees and bending his head. After a while, he felt a buzzing in his pocket and he sat upright, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Hello?" he asked, shakily, into the mouthpiece.

"Roxas?" answered an equally shaky voice.

"Hi, Demyx – what's up?" Roxas said, sniffing slightly.

"Roxas, can we meet up in the caf in about half an hour?"

Roxas nodded mutely, then remembered Demyx couldn't hear a nod. "Sure, of course."

"Roxas, are you okay?" Demyx asked suddenly. "You sound like... Are you okay?"

Roxas gave a quiet "mhm" and then hung up. When he looked up he realised there were wet patches around and beneath his eyes, trails of tears winding down his cheeks. He sniffed again and wiped away any trace of his feminine outburst. He figured it would take him about twenty minutes to walk to the café from where he was if he walked slowly – and he wasn't much in the hurrying mood.

Fifteen minutes later, Roxas was lingering outside the café, annoyed with himself at the fact he took shorter than he expected. After a while of shivering in his T-shirt, he realised his best bet was to go inside the café and just wait for Demyx in there. Of course, it would become a mistake.

Upon entering the place, the thing that immediately struck Roxas was its emptiness at that time of day – but he supposed everyone was probably preparing for Tidus' party, considering practically the whole college was invited. The second thing that struck him was the dashing redhead in the corner, with his beautiful girlfriend. Roxas felt his stomach clench unpleasantly, so much so he nearly buckled in two.

He felt sick – he had to get out, leave the happy couple in the corner.

He decided to go back to his dorm and stay there – he wasn't going to go to Tidus' party after all. He'd just tell Tidus he felt ill, because, well, he did. Extraordinarily ill. Feeling warm liquid streak away from his eyes he ran as fast as he could away from Axel and his beau.

* * *

Kairi was wearing a pink dress and had bright red lip gloss on her lips. Her eyes looked beautiful in violet-blue eye-shadow and dark kohl eyeliner. She had rouged her cheeks, which gave her a healthy glow he can't have seen on her in years. Her hair was shiny and pretty, more so than usual because she had obviously used some sort of serum on it.

Sora whistled at her, not subconsciously – but because he thought that might be what he should do.

"How do I look?" asked Kairi in a what she probably hoped was a seductive voice.

"You look beautiful," Sora smiled.

Kairi grinned. "Don't look so bad yourself, Mr. Yagami."

"Well, you know – I try."

"Oh," said Kairi, taking a step forward into his dorm and smiling beneath her massive eyelashes. "I know." She whispered the last two words as she took one of Sora's hands in hers.

Sora's heart leapt and he thought, "this is it! This is it! This is the day where I can officially tell everyone that I am not gay!"

Kairi leaned forwards and kissed him on the lips.

Sora wasn't sure what to do. He pressed his lips harder against hers and she retaliated by opening her mouth slightly. He pulled away from her sharply.

"Sora?"

"Sorry! Sorry, I didn't mean to. Sorry, try again."

"Okay..." She leaned forward again and kissed him again. This time Sora engaged in the opening of the mouths but it only took him a few seconds before he had to withdraw again.

"Sora."

"I'm sorry! Kiss me again! Please."

She did so, but with less enthusiasm this time.

Sora threw his arms around her in an attempt to liven it up – maybe he'd enjoy it more if he threw his whole being into the action- he was suddenly repulsed by himself for even thinking of something like that. He drew away again, even more sharply than the last two times.

"Sora. What is going on? What are you doing?"

Sora knew his face must've represented the shock he was feeling.

"Kairi," he said, biting his lip. "I... I think I'm gay."

"Fuck."

**Why has Riku DUMPED Demyx?**

**If Sora's GAY, does that mean Kairi is too?**

**Will Roxas EVER get Axel?**

So, can you guess where this chapter's title came from?

More reviews lead to quicker updates, doods.

Read, review, party and enjoy life,

Nirii and Lamie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mucho luff)


	5. Episode Five: Mr Darcy, Mr Darcy Pt 2

**Dutch Courage**

Episode Five: Mr. Darcy, Mr. Darcy Part 2

* * *

Kairi stormed from the room, just saving herself from slamming the door in Sora's face. She stomped down the corridor, her head burning with rage at Sora. Leading her on like that and then raising her hopes and kissing her and then – then the shocker.

_Oh, by the way, Kairi, I'm gay. Hope you don't mind._

So Kairi may have been exaggerating it in her mind, but she was still terribly angry about it. She kicked a nearby bin which actually managed to hurt her toes. She wasn't having a very good day at all. Looking up, she noticed a very dejected looking guy walking across the lawn.

"Roxas!" she cried, running over to him.

He had tears in his eyes and quickly wiped them away when Kairi came near. She was so furious, that she couldn't even find herself caring.

"You going to Tidus' party?" she asked, without waiting for an answer. "Because you're coming with me. We're getting drunk tonight."

Roxas looked up and Kairi saw the look of realisation on his face as he slowly came to see that getting drunk – wildly, unstoppingly, comatose-state drunk – was pretty much the best solution for the situation he must have been in.

* * *

Tidus grinned around him. His party was already in full swing, though people were still arriving in drips and drabs.

"Hello, birthday boy."

The blonde smirked as he felt the person's warm breath against his ear. He turned around and grinned when his eyes settled on the brunette. "Hey, Yuna," he said, wrapping his arms around her slender waist and pulling her closer towards him.

She smiled and kissed him warmly on the lips. "Happy Birthday."

"I hope you remembered my present," he joked.

"Shoot," she said sarcastically. "I knew I'd forgotten something. I guess I'll have to make it up to you later," she added with a wink.

He laughed and leaned forwards to kiss her again, only to be prevented by Hayner leaping onto his back. "Tidus, man! You throw the best parties _ever_!" he proclaimed, rubbing a fist hard on the blonde's head.

"Uhh, thanks," he said, slightly bemused. "It's barely even started yet though, man."

"I know, but you snooze, you lose!" Hayner snorted with laughter and flung himself over to a large group of girls.

Tidus laughed and shook his head in amusement. He glanced over at the door and saw another group of people arriving. "Hey, I'll be right back," he told Yuna, kissing her quickly on the cheek.

He grinned as he spotted a short brunette attempting to hang up her coat, but failing to reach high enough. "Need a hand there?"

She jumped in surprise and almost dropped her coat. "Shit, Tidus!" she cried, clutching her chest dramatically. "Don't creep up on me like that!"

"Sorry, Selph. Couldn't resist," he admitted, taking her coat away from her and hanging it up, smirking down at her with an expression of superiority.

She pouted a little in annoyance, and poked his stomach. A second later, she brightened. "Hey, happy birthday!" she exclaimed, as though she had only just remembered. She flung her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek noisily.

He laughed and hugged her back tightly. "Thanks."

Selphie released him, smiling blissfully and clasping her hands behind her back. He took in her appearance for the first time. He mentally scolded himself for noticing - though he knew it was a male instict - that her tits looked bigger than he remembered. Though, perhaps it was just the way she was standing. "Nice dress," he said, truthfully.

"Aww, thanks, Tidus." She beamed at him, and he blinked in confused as he registered that her skin had never looked better. She must have got some new make up or something. His eyebrows contracted slightly as he looked over her, trying to see if anything else had changed. It wasn't until she poked his stomach again and walked away that he realised she had excused herself and gone to talk to someone else.

Shaking himself slightly, he made his way back to Yuna.

* * *

The house was huge; Roxas had never realised that Tidus had a rich family. He hadn't known him that well in high school but since they both came to the same university they had felt some sort of bond and hung out more often. Kairi was striding ahead of him, eager to get to the booze as soon as possible.

She rapped the door until it was opened by a disgruntled looking Tidus who said, "Geez, I get the picture, Kairi."

"Happy birthday, Tidus," Kairi replied, marching past him. "Roxas!" she called behind her, "I'm gonna get the first round - see you in five!"

Roxas sighed and wished Tidus a happy birthday as he passed him and into the house.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. See you later, Roxas," he heard as he walked away.

Roxas imagined that Kairi couldn't have gotten too far, but then again, she was a woman on a mission: a deadly combination. He walked through into one room, which he would say, at a guess, was the living room, where there was a mass of people, talking and drinking and doing various other things that Roxas didn't like to think about.

He traversed through the throng, slowly making his way to the other side - or so he hoped. Being short meant that he was having difficulty seeing where he was going, his head only just meeting the shoulders of the people around him.

Suddenly, one of the many people around him pulled Roxas out of his drift through the crowd.

"Hey, Rox," he said.

Roxas didn't reply to Axel because he didn't particularly feel like doing so.

"So guess what," Axel continued, despite his charge's non-reply. "I dumped Olette today."

Roxas could have slapped his smug grinning face. He was just standing there, _expecting_ Roxas to whoop with joy or something. Roxas wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of a gleeful Roxas falling back into his 'lover / best friend / whatever the hell he was's arms. He looked Axel in the eye.

"Fuck you."

And he walked away. He glimpsed sight of a kitchen just ahead, where he could see an auburn headed girl pouring out shots into lots and lots of little glasses.

* * *

"So, how have you been?" Tidus asked, leaning back against the counter in the kitchen and folding his arms across his chest.

Selphie slid next to him. "Pretty good. Definitely enjoying being here so far."

"Yeah, well, RGU is famous for having the best nightlife." He laughed, thinking of the nightclub they frequented at.

"I guess it kinda helps being put in the dorms with mostly second and third years," she mused.

"'Cause it means you get invited to all the _best_ parties," he grinned and winked at her.

"_Sure_," she giggled. "What about you, anyway? How have you been?"

"Well, I've been-" he cut off as the doorbell rang. "Oh, hang on, that'll be the pizza. I'll be right back."

The blonde scooted over to the door and paid the delivery man quickly. He attempted to head quickly back into the kitchen, but was mauled by several, obviously ravenous, people. He made it back to the kitchen mostly unscathed, with just one box left. He put it down on the counter, opened it and turned back to Selphie. "Want a slice?"

"Yeah, thanks," she took the offered slice and had a small bite.

"Anyway, I've been great. Signed up to this really cool new class- hey, are you alright?"

Selphie had put the slice of pizza down on the counter and was holding a hand over her mouth. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel a bit funny." She gagged.

"Shit, Selphie! What's wrong?" He put an arm on her shoulder, and bent down so he could see her face. She was paler than usual.

"Just don't feel very well. I- I should probably leave. I'll see you later." She gave him a swift one-armed hug and ran out of the kitchen.

Tidus stared after her for a moment, before shaking his head and picking up her rejected slice of pizza.

* * *

Demyx was sat at the kitchen island, his fifth beer in his hand, listening to a rather tipsy Sora. The guy's depressing news _almost_ made him feel a little better, but not by much. It couldn't change the fact that he had been dumped by his boyfriend, abandoned by Roxas and left alone.

When he had first arrived, Tidus had told him that Riku had been looking for him. He'd simply kept his face as expressionless as possible and told the blonde to say he hadn't come. As much as he understood how Riku felt, he didn't want to be near him right now.

"And I honestly thought I would _like_ it! I mean, Kairi's a hot girl, right? But I just _didn't_. It all just felt so weird and _wrong_." The brunet scrunched up his face in annoyance. "Maybe it was just because it was Kairi, though? Maybe I didn't like kissing her cause she's just not, uh, y'know... the one for me?" he mused, clinging desperately to his newly found beacon of hope.

The blonde made a noise in his throat that he hoped sounded relatively sympathetic.

"At least you _know_ you're gay," Sora continued. "I don't even know! I mean, sure, sometimes I think, 'hey, he's kinda hot' but I don't actually think 'I'd like to be this guy's boyfriend' or whatever. Which means I'm not, right? But then, I don't think that about girls either." He paused for a moment, lost in his own thoughts.

Demyx raised his eyebrows hopefully; perhaps he had run out of steam.

Suddenly, the brunet looked thunderstruck. "Oh my Yevon!" He grabbed Demyx's arm, knocking his beer can onto the, fortunately, tiled floor. "What if I'm asexual or something? What if I never have sex again? What if I don't _want_ to have sex again!"

The blonde covered his eyes with a hand, his mouth moving noiselessly, as Sora continued on the same refrain.

"Maybe if I just had _lots_ of sex, I'd figure things out! I mean, how hard can it be- mmph." The brunet blinked in shock.

Demyx sat back, looking thoroughly relieved and also rather proud of himself.

Sora blinked twice and touched his fingers to his lips in disbelief. His eyes locked with Demyx's, who suddenly looked slightly alarmed. The brunet grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him towards him. "I'm definitely gay," he muttered, before crushing his lips against the blonde's.

* * *

Kairi was passed out on top of a stranger. Roxas stared for a moment, mouth hanging open and beer about to slip from his fingers. He scoffed at his stupid friend; how could she let herself get so drunk?

"Hic."

Roxas walked away from the girl and her new friend, vaguely noticing how he managed to bump into nearly everything on his way out into the living room which was still full of people. He thrashed around, not entirely sure what he was looking for. Then, noticing a group of people laughing at some joke one of them said, he remembered.

"Axel!" he cried out, jumping at Axel's back.

Axel turned around, looking at the little blonde trying to clutch onto his back. "Roxas?"

"Axel!" cried Roxas again. "Let's have sex!"

"Erm... Roxas?"

Roxas was infuriated by Axel's total lack of understanding. He was so ignorant. Why couldn't he just take Roxas then and there?

"What do you mean?" shouted Roxas. He didn't really care that his voice was raised to the point where most people in the room were looking at him. "You don't have a girlfriend anymore."

Axel looked furtively around at the people, making Roxas even more frustrated. He grabbed Axel and kissed him sloppily near his lips - as near as he could manage anyway. Axel pulled Roxas away from his face but held onto his shoulders tightly. That was more like it.

"Okay, Rox," said Axel carefully, looking at all the people around them. "Let's go have sex, come on. No! Not here, you crazy little..."

Axel led Roxas towards the main door. Roxas was annoyed; why did he have to wait? He struggled against Axel's steel grip, he was held in an arm's length away from Axel and that was no good. They turned onto the road and Roxas was pushed into a car he recognised to be Axel's tiny blue one. Roxas was sat in the back of the car and strapped in tightly.

"Now stay there, Roxas," said Axel as he got into the front and started to drive away.

Roxas decided he could wait for another fifteen minutes as Axel drove to the dorm. But he was getting very impatient.

Finally they reached the dormrooms and Axel put Roxas at armslength in front of him again. Roxas struggled to turn around but Axel was having none of it.

"Axeeeeeeel," whined Roxas, tripping over as he tried to turn around again. Axel picked Roxas back up again, swearing as Roxas nearly tripped over again. Roxas felt himself being led up the outside concrete stairs, the quickest way to Axel's third floor room, but he somehow managed to tangle one foot over the other again when it hit one of the steps and the next thing he knew his face was brushing against the hard, rough floor of the stairs; he felt a sharp sudden sting in his cheek too which soon subsided. He was quickly brought back up by some other-worldly seeming force, which he realised must've been Axel after he found himself face to face with the guy.

Their faces were extremely close, noted Roxas.

Axel seemed to be worriedly brushing at Roxas' face, and although each brush felt a little rougher than it probably should've Roxas couldn't say he didn't like it. He leaned forward and kissed Axel fiercely. Roxas felt Axel's fingers slide from his face to his hair and linger there for a while, gently pressing his lips to Roxas' but not fully engaging. He suddenly pulled away and Roxas giggled because Axel had blood on his cheek.

Axel rubbed at the blood. "Jeez, Roxas," he muttered before promptly lifting him up and carrying him to his dorm. As he was carried up the stairs Roxas felt a sickly, swishing sensation in both his head and stomach. He looked at his tummy oddly. He willed it to stop swirling. Axel set Roxas down to open the door and as soon as he did Roxas doubled over, hand slapped over his mouth.

"Oh shit." Axel grabbed Roxas and pulled him into the dorm, dragging him into the bathroom. When Roxas was done, Axel was sat beside him with a glass of water, a rag and a bowl of boiling water. "You," said the redhead, "are a pain in the ass. Drink this."

Roxas nodded gently, picking up the glass and taking little sips. He closed his eyes, suddenly feeling very tired but quickly opened them again when he felt a sharp pain on the side of his face. Axel had come very close and was dabbing at his cheek with the rag and each time he did, it stung like a bitch, which made his head hurt more. Roxas instinctively tried to hold his hand to his cheek but Axel slapped it away, then, thoughtfully, took Roxas' hand in his own, stroking it with his thumb every time Roxas flinched or twitched from Axel's incessant dabbing of his bloodied cheek.

Finally, he seemed to think he had finished and leaned forward, kissing Roxas' forehead. "You are an idiot," he remarked. "You're going to feel that in the morning, you know."

Roxas yawned. "Well, I can't feel it now so I don't care." He almost absentmindedly scratched an itch on the cut-up cheek but was stopped by Axel's other hand. Roxas had been lying; he could feel it. It was quite painful. He leaned forward and kissed Axel again, not as roughly as the last few times as his head started to get less dizzy but more painful, the lightheadedness was leaving him and he could feel scratches and stings on his arms, lower torso and legs where he supposed he must've scraped himself over the staircase floor.

Axel kissed Roxas back this time, his hands sliding up Roxas' wrists and arms until they were rested just below Roxas' cheeks. Roxas smiled into the kiss, placing his hands on top of Axel's and intertwining their fingers.

"You should go to sleep, babe," Axel said and Roxas froze momentarily before nodding serenely. He was feeling very passive and wondered whether this meant he forgave Axel. A cloudy vision swum in his mind of Axel and Olette, and then Axel's expectant gaze at the party as he announced his dumping of Olette. Roxas groaned. He didn't want to forgive Axel because he was a jerk; but he really wanted to because he was so nice.

"Axel," he said finally, as Axel started to pick up the glass of water and the bowl and the rag. "I forgive you."

Axel looked down at Roxas, still sat on the floor. Roxas imagined he looked very sweaty, with that unattractive "I've just vomited" flushed face. He averted his gaze. Axel put the things in the sink and held out his hand for Roxas to take. Roxas declined and instead hoisted himself up using the edge of the bath, still refusing to look at Axel and instead walking out of the bathroom entirely.

Axel followed Roxas as he shed his clothes, bar his boxers, and climbed into Axel's bed, settling himself in. As he stared at the cream wall, he felt Axel get in beside him and wrap his skinny bare arms round Roxas. He felt Axel bury his head into Roxas' hair and mutter, "I'm sorry, Roxas."

Roxas smiled briefly before turning round to peck Axel on the lips. Axel grinned and pulled Roxas closer.

"Night," he said.

"Goodnight," replied Roxas.

* * *

Kairi felt something warm and slightly uncomfortable beneath her. She prodded it lightly as her eyes grew accustomed to the light. It made a muffled moaning sort of noise. She gasped and recoiled from shock, falling off it, but was quickly grabbed back on top.

"Ooft," she said.

"Oh hey," it said. "Damn, look at the time. I have to go."

"Oh?" she asked as it shifted beneath her until she was the one on the bottom and was looking up at his face. She recognised him as that pirate dude who had been at the uni way longer than anyone ever should be.

"Here, take my number - call me."

Kairi watched him walk away and as he did she thought:

Well, why the hell not?

**

* * *

****Author's Note**: So sorry it's late. I hope you keep reading, because we've had this written for a long time. Rest assured we'll update chapter 5 soon because that too is all written up.

Much love,

Nirii and Lamie


	6. Episode Six: Men are like Rubber Bands

**Authors' Note: **SORRY IT'S BEEN SO LONG, WE DO STILL LOVE YOU ALL.

Lamie says, "but lol i love akuroku."

Enjoy!

**Dutch Courage**

Episode Six: Men are like Rubber Bands

Demyx sighed and flopped heavily onto his back. He felt a twinge of guilt when he looked sideways at the brunet next to him. His eyes were closed and his chest was heaving, his breathing shallow.

In reality, he knew he had no reason to feel guilty. They had made it clear to each other after the first time they had had sex that they felt no romantic inclination towards the other... but Demyx couldn't help it. He kept worrying that Sora would suddenly leap up off the bed and begin screaming at him for ripping him of his innocence.

That was the thing that made him feel most uncomfortable, the fact that he had been Sora's first time. If he had known, he wouldn't have done it. But, unfortunately, before it became painstakingly obvious - it was too late.

It didn't seem right, his first time should have been with someone he actually felt something for - something other than pure lust, that is. However, when he had tried to inform the brunet of this, he had simply stated that he 'wasn't exactly normal anyway, was he?' and that hadn't made sense to Demyx at all.

Another thing that made him feel guilty was the fact that he couldn't wait for Riku to find out. He had never been even the slightest bit malicious, yet he felt as though making Riku jealous would just make him feel so much better.

He stretched his arms above his head, cracking his back, then blinked when his phone started ringing. He rubbed his eyes and reached over Sora to pick it up off his nightstand, raising his eyebrows in both surprise and intrigue when he saw the caller ID.

He sat up. "Hey, Riku."

Sora's eyes shot open and he propped himself up on his elbows, obviously trying to listen to the voice on the other end of the phone.

"_Demyx! You all right?"_

"Yeah, I'm great." He grinned and winked at Sora. "You?"

"_Good. Yeah, I'm fine. I was wondering if you wanted to meet up?"_

"Sure, okay. Is it okay if Sora comes along too?"

The brunet's jaw dropped and he smacked Demyx's leg in protest.

"_Sora?" _Riku paused for a split second and gulped. _"Yeah, sure. Course it is. I'll meet you at your dorm in about twenty minutes, yeah?"_

"Sure. In a bit." Demyx hung up.

Sora scowled and crossed his arms against his bare chest. "So I'm meeting the ex-boyfriend, huh? Thank you so much for _asking_, Demyx."

The blonde grinned and kissed his cheek playfully. "Come on, _we_ need a shower."

* * *

When Roxas awoke, he noted a sharp throbbing in his cheek. And a dull throbbing in his head. And also a horrible, very uncomfortable stickiness where he was laid on the pillow. He slowly brought his head up and immediately regretted it. First of all, the dull throbbing grew louder and heavier. Second of all, his skin appeared to be attached to what he was sure had been a white pillow the night before.

"Fuck fuck fuckity fuck," he said, trying not to panic. He carefully peeled the browny-reddish pillow away from his cheek, nearly crying out. He felt Axel's arms pull tighter round his waist and he turned around carefully, not daring to touch his face at all. Axel mumbled something about going back to sleep. "Axel, wake up. Axel, you gotta wake up."

Roxas knew he was working himself into a frenzy; his awfully aching head wasn't helping the situation either. He calmed himself down as Axel stirred. "Axel, what happened last night?"

Now Roxas usually prided himself on how well he handled his drink but last night he must've been completely wasted and he could really only guess what he had gotten up to. He could remember that Axel had dumped Olette and being very angry at Axel. He could remember drinking with Kairi who got drunk a lot quicker than he did. He couldn't remember much else though. He thought he might've started singing to something at one point, and then there was another time when he attacked someone from behind but he couldn't remember why. He could just recall going to Axel's dorm, but he couldn't remember why they did that either.

"Urgh..." he groaned, putting his head in his hand, careful not to touch anywhere near his cheek. When he pulled away he had a faint smudge of blood on his hand. Axel suddenly shot up.

"Oh my Yevon!" he cried, clutching Roxas' face.

The next half an hour was a blur. Roxas pulled on jeans and a zip-up jacket, not wanting to catch his face with pulling something over his head. Axel whisked him away to the nearest hospital. They waited for ten minutes before a nurse led him behind a curtain, followed by Axel.

"So," said the nurse, methodically picking out bits of glass and dirt from the cut, making Roxas wince so much so he nearly convulsed every time the tweezers neared his face, "how did this happen?"

She seemed to be telling them off but Roxas knew that behind the stern eyes some motherly instinct was kicking in and she was taking pity on him. Axel lingered by the curtain, looking strained.

"Roxas fell over last night and landed on some glass. We were both pretty drunk so I guess we didn't notice how bad it was."

The nurse "tsk"'d and started cleaning the wound. Roxas squeaked; a noise which he then went on to deny he ever made, but it was the squeak which made Axel finally decide to sit next to Roxas and grab his hand, squeezing it tightly. The nurse didn't comment on it, instead said, "Well, you're lucky. It's not too deep but you might have gotten away without a scar if you'd come here as soon as it had happened. As it happens, you _will_ have a scar."

Roxas bit his lip; he wasn't too traumatised at the thought. He had never been very vain and already had a small scar just below his eyebrow where Sora had knocked him off his skateboard once. But this scar would be a lot more visible, an inch in length on his cheek. He didn't say anything. Axel on the other hand: "On his _face_?"

Roxas quashed the urge to burst out laughing as the nurse started applying small pieces of tape. She smiled vaguely and said, "It won't be too bad, just a faint white line. At least you don't need stitches though."

Roxas squeezed Axel's hand as the redhead just gaped at the woman.

After another minute she announced that she was done and could Roxas just fill out a small form outside.

Roxas did so and met Axel outside the hospital where he had gone to wait for the blond while he signed the papers. He looked forlorn as Roxas approached. He stared sadly at Roxas' face. When the nurse had cleaned away the blood they'd uncovered many bruises down the side of his face and lots of scrapes around the area of the scar. Although, Roxas felt a lot better now that his face was clean.

Axel looked down when Roxas came up to him.

"This isn't your fault, you know," said Roxas, sensing some sort of guilt. "It was mine for going out and getting really really really really drunk. Or we could blame Kairi – since it was her idea."

Axel sighed and lightly punched the wall behind him. Roxas knew that usually he would take any chance to make fun of Kairi, but something must really have been gnawing at him as he said, "I can't help but blame myself Roxas. You're going to have a _scar_."

"It'll make me look more manly," Roxas tried to joke.

Axel swung to face the blond, and gripped his shoulders. "Every time I see you I'll be reminded of how I managed to mess up helping you. I mean, I tried but I ended up making it worse!"

"Axel, you're being dramatic." Roxas rolled his eyes but the pained look on Axel's face made him stop. "Alright, you know, every time I look at my face in the mirror I will be reminded of how you tried to help me. And that's all I can ask for."

Axel's grip loosened and his expression became less painful. Roxas grinned.

"You know what we haven't done in a while?" he said.

"Oh, I know," Axel replied, grabbing his car keys.

* * *

Pence and Hayner stared at Tifa in disbelief, jaws slack and eyes wide. She clutched her head in irritation and glared at them again, her hand planted firmly on her voluptuous hips. "Come on, you pussies."

Hayner shook his head. "You're mad. I can't go out now, not after last night. I give in; I don't have that much stamina," he admitted, looking only slightly ashamed.

The dark haired girl looked imploringly at Pence, who shifted uncomfortably. "Why don't we stay in for once? I mean, actually, I have a lot of work I could be doing-"

"Okay, seriously Pence? I may not be up for going out right now, but it is still a Saturday night. You can't work." Hayner stated, officially putting his foot down.

Tifa sighed. "You two are pathetic." She collapsed onto the sofa between the two men. "Seriously, why do I even hang out with you guys?"

Hayner scoffed at her. "Whatever, Tifa. What makes us so pathetic?"

"Apart from the fact that I have more stamina than the two of you put together, even though I'm a _girl_?"

"Touché."

"I mean, _honestly_," she continued. "Did either of you pull last night? No! Come on, I pulled. Do you know the percentage of gay girls to straight girls? But it's still me who manages to pull. Sometimes I think you guys are in serious need of help."

"Help? From you? I don't think so," the blonde snorted.

"Even _Sora_ pulled."

"Yeah, but he pulled _Demyx_. I didn't even know he was _gay_!" Hayner retorted, glancing between Pence and Tifa to see if he was alone in that fact. Both of them shrugged.

"And Tidus got with Yuna again." Pence reminded them. "Are they together now?"

"Tidus isn't exactly the exclusive kinda guy... It's not likely," Tifa mused. "Now, as much as I hate to admit it, you two could even learn a thing or two from him."

Hayner groaned and put his head between his knees.

"That's right," Tifa chuckled, patting him on the back, "you don't deserve a penis."

* * *

Axel sighed contently, smiling the smile that only a self satisfied Axel could smile. "So, Roxy-poo."

"Fuck off," grinned Roxas, turning into Axel's side as a lanky arm twisted round his shoulders.

"So, Roxy-Poxy-Darlingly-Beautiful-Lover-Gorgeous-Babe-Loverly-Baby-Duckie-Lovey-Cherry-Chickie-Bang Tidy-Well Fit-Pet Name-poo." Axel received a punch to the chest. He laughed, wincing in pain and amusement. "How was that?"

"Well, you know. Same old, same old."

"I am hurt; I tried really hard that time."

"Oh, I could tell. Just not _hard_ enough."

"You're so nasty, babe."

"I told you not to call me that. It reminds me of that freaky talking pig."

Axel sniggered. He turned his head to the side slightly where Roxas was dancing his fingers

across the right side of his chest. "Then what should I call you, Rox?"

"That'll be fine, thanks."

Axel blew out softly. He could hear birds chirruping outside and cars honking their horns. Roxas' fingers tickled his bare skin but not so much to make it unpleasant. "What do your others call you?"

"Hm?" Roxas looked up, bright blue eyes shining in the morning light. "What others?"

"You know. The others between _us_." Axel paused. "Ooh, that sounded dirty. I like it." Roxas huffed slightly, something that could vaguely be a laugh. "You know who I mean," he touched Roxas's nose. "The people you use to replace me when you're being a bitch."

Roxas waved Axel's hand away from the general area of his face. "How romantic you are. And they don't call me anything."

Axel gasped theatrically. "They don't even know your name? You're such a slut, Rox."

Roxas growled and ducked under the covers. "You're so childish." Axel pulled Roxas back up and kissed his forehead. Roxas sighed, but not shying away from Axel's hug. "For the record; they don't call me any pet names because I think they're degrading."

"Degrading?" Axel asked, between placing butterfly kisses on Roxas's face and neck.

"Yeah," said Roxas, "you know. It makes me think 'oh, I'm just another shag'. I'm just an object. I don't have a real name because it probably can't be remembered so I'm just called 'honey' or," Roxas looked at Axel pointedly, "'babe'."

Axel stopped kissing Roxas. "Hey," he said, softly. Roxas rolled over. "Hey, hey, hey." He pulled Roxas towards him again. "You," he said, "are not just another shag. You know I don't mean it like that, don't you?" Roxas remained silent. "Besides," whispered Axel, "I can remember your name. I'll always remember your name. It's Rucksack, right?"

"Fuck you, whore."

"Roxas, c'mere," Axel wrapped his arms tighter round Roxas. "I didn't realise you hated it so much. I'll stop it if you want, save it for special occasions." Roxas turned round so he was resting his head on Axel's chest. He sighed and after a while, Axel let his grip go and Roxas fell back onto the pillow next to him.

"What did you mean 'others between us'?" Roxas asked Axel after a long pause. Axel was playing with Roxas's hair absentmindedly, staring at the ceiling.

"What? Oh, you know, the people you date between us... boning."

Roxas shifted slightly. "Then, technically, aren't we the ones between them?"

"What do you mean?" asked Axel, tearing his gaze away from the ceiling.

"Well, if," Roxas thought for a moment. "If I go out with Naminé and then dump Naminé, then I... 'bone' you for a while, then I go out with Yuffie. Then aren't we the ones in the middle?"

"Well, if you put it like that then I s'pose so but that-"

Roxas slapped his hand over Axel's annoying mouth and sat up, leaning over the other slightly. "Axel, you know what I mean." He looked into Axel's eyes purposefully.

Axel retracted Roxas's hand from his mouth slowly. "Then you're right. I'm sorry for my outrageous grammatical error. I take it back."

Roxas's eyes misted over for a second, then he flopped back onto Axel's arm. "Good," he said, quietly.

Axel propped himself up. "So Naminé and Yuffie, eh?"

"I don't want to talk about it. We shouldn't talk about it, it's weird."

"Fine, fine. Just wondering why you picked two girls."

"Pfft. Well I don't go out with guys, do I?"

"_What_?"

There was a long silence. Axel leaned further over Roxas so the blond had no choice but to look at him. "Oi. I'm talking to you. What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Why do you care anyway?"

"Erm, because I'm your best friend and, as I've just realised, potentially the only guy you've ever had sex with."

Roxas remained still and silent for a while. "So?"

"So that's kind of a big deal, Rox. Why didn't you tell me this when we first started... you know." Axel was all but straddling Roxas now, his face hovering a few inches above Roxas's.

"So you could say boning earlier but now it's turned all '_serious_' you can't say it any more?"

"Shut up. You're just a kid. Tell me."

Roxas squeezed his eyes shut. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Roxas tried to break out of the cage of Axel but it wasn't happening. Axel pinned him down further. "I'm not a fucking child. I'm only two years younger than you."

"Yeah, but when we first started you were a kid. You were only _eighteen_ and you didn't tell me. I just- Roxas, why didn't you tell me?" Roxas stared at Axel's worried eyes.

"For Yevon's sake, Axel, drop it. That was three years ago. I'm not a kid any more. It's not like you raped me or anything."

Axel stared at Roxas's face. He stared at his disdainful blue eyes and his wavy blonde hair, slightly messier than usual; he stared at his nose and his peachy pink lips. His gaze slipped down Roxas' face, he looked along the yellowing bruises down the side of his face and the scraping surrounding the ugly cut, pulled together by little bits of tape. "I may as well have done," he muttered.

"You're overreacting, Axel."

"You didn't say anything! You didn't tell me when it hurt and you didn't tell me to stop even though you must've wanted to."

"How would you know that?" Roxas asked, raising an eyebrow. "Axel, you're just being a fucktard. Now, get off me."

"Fine." Axel rolled to the other side of the bed. "So you don't date other guys?"

Roxas stiffened. "Yeah, I just don't really see myself like that, I suppose."

"Well, you always seem to enjoy yourself with me." Axel smirked.

Roxas didn't reply.

"Don't tell me you're faking it."

Roxas still didn't say anything.

"Rox?"

Axel sidled over to Roxas's side of the bed. "Hey, kiddo," he touched Roxas's head. "What's wrong with you today? You're being all moody and thinking and if I'm honest, it's not a particularly attractive quality in a girl."

Roxas slapped Axel's hand away from his head and slipped out of the bed.

"Whoa, whoa. Roxas, where are you going?" Axel grabbed Roxas's hand. "Please come back to bed."

Roxas's whole body shifted as he sighed heavily and sat back down on the bed, next to Axel's now outstretched arm. "Axel," he said, refusing to look at the redhead directly. "Axel, what exactly do I mean to you?"

Axel leaned up, resting on his elbows. "What? You're my best friend. Yeah?"

Roxas looked at Axel from the side, his shoulders tense. "Yes," he said, carefully. He listened to Axel's breathing for a while. "Is that it?"

"Rox? Are you feeling okay? You've been acting really strangely all morning."

"I'm fine. It's just I was talking to Sora yesterday and he asked me what was going on between us. And you know... I don't know the answer to that question any more."

Axel was silent.

"Do you?" whispered Roxas.

Axel remained silent, seemingly unable to answer.

"'Cause, Axel, you know I don't go out with other guys. And I don't think I ever will. It's just..." Axel remained stationary. Roxas shifted further off the edge of the bed.

"It's just you, Axel."

Axel stared. Roxas waited for a second, staring at the wall and then got off the bed and walked to the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

* * *

Selphie was alone in her dorm. She rubbed her eyes one last time and hoped they didn't look too red and puffy as she was going out to meet some friends later on. She opened the wardrobe to look at herself in the full length mirror there. She was wearing a plain t-shirt, which was a little tight on her, but not too much.

She placed her hands on her tummy.

If she wanted to, she could pretend that it looked as flat as usual. But as she traced a hand around the newly forming curve she could feel a hard contour pushing its way up.

She looked at herself from the side.

She heard Kairi noisily make her way into the dormitory, talking very loudly and very quickly about something or other that had happened at Tidus' party. She gave her tummy one last pat and dried her eyes again, turning to listen to what Kairi was saying properly.

Selphie knew then that she was, indeed, pregnant.

* * *

**Does Axel know the exact relationship between himself and Roxas?**

**What will Riku say when he meets Sora?**

**Who's got Selphie pregnant?**

**A/N**: Well, there we have it. Sorry for the long wait. More reviews means quicker updates though!


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